The Industry of Things World Graphic Recording

For a better knowledge transfer and innovation finding the we.CONECT keynotes, world cafés, round tables and workshops are being documented as live visualizations. Following the spoken word, Europe’s best artist simultaneously translate the core arguments into a large format word & picture record. The big picture structures the conclusions, grows along the discussion and by means of visual anchors enables the participants’ better overview of the topic.

For a better knowledge transfer and innovation finding the we.CONECT keynotes, world cafés, round tables and workshops are being documented as live visualizations. Following the spoken word, Europe’s best artist simultaneously translate the core arguments into a large format word & picture record. The big picture structures the conclusions, grows along the discussion and by means of visual anchors enables the participants’ better overview of the topic.

Join us as Team!

Profit from our Team Discounts and save up to 50% on the standard registration fee!

With so much going on at the event and so many things to see and be part of, you should really think about brining your colleagues, friends and boss along to help you divide and conquer! We are here to help you make the most of your attendance.

Get in touch to see how much you can save by bringing more people along.

Profit from our Team Discounts and save up to 50% on the standard registration fee!

With so much going on at the event and so many things to see and be part of, you should really think about brining your colleagues, friends and boss along to help you divide and conquer! We are here to help you make the most of your attendance.

Get in touch to see how much you can save by bringing more people along.

Master the data-driven business models that create new revenue streams: Turn product data into insight

Discover the possibilities opening up with the convergence of the digital and physical world

Find out about expanding and shifting industry boundaries: how IoT technologies are changing competition

Interoperability: The importance of allowing interoperability of devices in the world of IoT and how far away are we from a universal standardisation? Discussing the implementation of open source and open standards

Know what it takes to safeguard enterprise data: Tailor your proposition to respond to the security concerns that preoccupy enterprise customers today

Cloud: IoT is all about platforms and applications. How can the cloud enable IoT innovation?

Robotics: Find out how IoT technologies and robotic “devices” intersect to provide advanced robotic capabilities, along with novel applications, and new business and investment opportunities

The human factor: The Internet of Things and Humans involves new ways of thinking about how humans and things cooperate differently when the things get smarter

John Carrier, Senior Lecturer, MIT Sloan School of Management

Dr. John F. Carrier is a Senior Lecturer in the System Dynamics Group at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He has spent over 25 years diagnosing and eliminating hidden factories in the oil & gas, petrochemical, discrete manufacturing, and research laboratory facilities, saving these organizations hundreds of millions of dollars while reducing operating risk. He also works with companies to successfully integrate the technology of the Industrial Internet of Things into their existing organization, with a distinct focus on developing front line leaders in the culture of improvement.

He currently runs a popular MIT Executive Education course on Implementing IIoT through Continuous Improvement Leadership (http://tiny.cc/2jhcjy). He also co-teaches an MBA course with Professor John DC Little (Little’s Law).

Dr. Carrier holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan, an ScD in Control Systems from MIT, and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, often cited as one of the world's most prestigious universities.
Founded in 1861 in response to the increasing industrialization of the United States, MIT adopted a European polytechnic university model and stressed laboratory instruction in applied science and engineering. Researchers worked on computers, radar, and inertial guidance during World War II and the Cold War. Post-war defense research contributed to the rapid expansion of the faculty and campus under James Killian. The current 168-acre (68.0 ha) campus opened in 1916 and extends over 1 mile (1.6 km) along the northern bank of the Charles River basin.
The Institute is traditionally known for its research and education in the physical sciences and engineering, and more recently in biology, economics, linguistics, and management as well. MIT is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU) and founder of the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS Institute). For several years, MIT's School of Engineering has been ranked first in various international and national university rankings, and the Institute is also often ranked among the world's top universities overall. The "Engineers" compete in 31 sports, most teams of which compete in the NCAA Division III's New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference; the Division I rowing programs compete as part of the EARC and EAWRC.
As of 2015, 85 Nobel laureates, 52 National Medal of Science recipients, 65 Marshall Scholars, 45 Rhodes Scholars, 38 MacArthur Fellows, 34 astronauts, 19 Turing award winners, 16 Chief Scientists of the U.S. Air Force, and 6 Fields Medalists have been affiliated with MIT. The school has a strong entrepreneurial culture, and the aggregated revenues of companies founded by MIT alumni would rank as the eleventh-largest economy in the world.

MIT Sloan School of Management PRE-Event Workshop

WHAT | MIT Sloan School of Management PRE-Event Workshop

Implementing Industry 4.0 – The Beer Game!
Back in the mid-1950’s, Professor Jay of the MIT Sloan School was asked by General Electric to help them understand why their appliance factory would run
full out with 3 to 4 shifts, while a year later orders dropped to less than a shift, even though customer demand remained relatively steady. Over a weekend, with
only pencil, paper, and some plastic chips, Jay developed a supply chain simulation that would one day become known as the “Beer Game”, which is still
played annually at business schools worldwide.

Those of us who work in manufacturing and operations play the Beer Game every day. Industry 4.0 is NOT a replacement for the Beer Game, but it does
provide a set of tools that will enable those who understand the immutable laws of Systems, as demonstrated by the Beer Game, to gain advantage over their
competitors.

Join this session if you’d like to understand the rules of the game BEFORE you invest in the new technologies offered by the Industrial Internet of Things, you
will want to attend this session.

WHO | John Carrier
Senior Lecturer, MIT Sloan School of Management

WHERE | Von Greifswald
Greifswalder Str. 80
10405 Berlin

WHEN | 15:00 - 18:00
Coming to Berlin early? Use the afternoon for the MIT Sloan School of Management PRE-Event Workshop!

Registration for this workshop is free with the purchase of a full conference ticket but limited to 30 participants on a first come, first served basis.

Von Greifswald

Icebreaker Sessions

Take advantage of a relaxed setting in one of Berlin's iconic venues with great views over the city, for an evening of informal discussions, networking and drinks to get things started in style. Some of the topics that will be discussed include:

Making Sense of The Internet of Things

Kevin Ashton
Inventor of the “Internet of Things”,

What is the Internet of Things really, how will it change the world in our lifetimes, and how can we take advantage of it? This inspiring keynote describes the coming world in concrete detail, explains exactly what the Internet of Things is and why it matters, and looks at on case studies from a variety of industries and applications to show how businesses can succeed—or fail—by adopting it.

9:30

Keynote

Who will actually monetize the value of your IoT-generated data?

The end game with IoT is to monetize the vast treasure troves of IoT-generated data by enabling new revenue streams, reducing costs, or improving customer experience. However, the possibility to actually capture the value from data-enabled use cases will depend on the players’ ability to establish themselves in the new data value chain and gain access to customer data. In fact, there are a set of control points that span across operational technologies, connections, and the cloud – whoever gets access and shapes the control point is in the best position to monetize the data-enabled feature. During this keynote, Nigel Upton will discuss projects within manufacturing, automotive and related industries and examine best practices and lessons learned.

Blockchain: The new machine to machine communication ecosystem

Being disruptive in business logic – digitalization of mould making

Jesper Toubol
Vice President, Elements and Moulds, Lego

Jesper Toubøl will explore how the technology decision making process is carried out, how data management choices are done and how data has been used to improve the processes in mould making. This session will provide insights how technology in traditional industries can improve and take performance to next level – rethinking the knows and unknows using of the off the shelves technologies.

Stream 3: Data driven decision making

Postal and Logistics Operations in a connected world

Christian Østergaard
Head of Production IT / Business CIO, Postnord

PostNord have over a period had many local initiatives with sensors and different kinds of monitoring, the task is now to transform these initiatives to corporate plan. Listen to PostNord sharing experiences, considerations and telling about their results so far.

Stream 4: IIoT Applications

Industrie 4.0 in R&D - Key Success Factors and Implications

Sebastian Barg
Research Associate, RWTH Aachen

Michael Riesener
Head of Innovation Management, RWTH Aachen

Main results of the 2017 benchmarking study on "Industrie 4.0 in R&D"

Presentation of the key success drivers for the integration and application of "Industrie 4.0" in research & development

Discussion of product as well as process related implications for R&D departments

Case Study-based examples of implications for the successful application of new business models, organizational changes, know-how build-up, "agilization", data-driven services and more...

11:10

Stream 1: Business model generation

Automotive value creation through cross-functional Industry 4.0

Dr. Michaela Colla
Director of Industry 4.0, Volkswagen

Megatrends affecting mobility and automotive value creation

Challenges of Industry 4.0 through a cross-functional approach

Enablers and success factors for cross-functional Industry 4.0

Stream 2: Technology & infrastructure

Smart Factory Web – an IIC Testbed on Production Market Places

Dr. Thomas Usländer
Head of Department Information Management and Production Control, Fraunhofer IOSB

The presentation will focus on the motivation, the architecture, the approach and the status of the „Smart Factory Web“ as recognized as a testbed of the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC). It highlights the idea of and the trends towards production marketplaces in which capabilities of smart factories and their production offers may be registered in a portal.

Digitalisation in the Oil and Gas Industry - Challenges, Successes and Opportunities of IoT

Oil and gas industry has seen lot of turbulent times. With each wave of turmoil the industry has been given an opportunity to innovate and optimize. Data is the new oil and is the saviour this time. Data can provide insights that can help these companies to improve their processes and take a leap into the future. With the innovations in the field of data storage and processing, the data that was caged into the silos is started getting free by breaking the applications and system boundaries.

11:40

Stream 1: Business model generation

Challenges for the Human Side of Industrie 4.0

Domonkos Gaspar
Head of Global Manufacturing Digitization, Autoneum

Much of the discussions in the area of IIoT/Industry 4.0 are focusing on business models, products, technology... Join this experience-driven presentation to learn about the human side of this new technology age:

dynamics of change, perception of IIoT by the workforce and how to approach it

impact of the IIoT change on the expected skill-set

how to deal in the organisation with the shortage of ideally skilled people on the market

Stream 2: Technology & infrastructure

Robotic concepts for future manufacturing

Máximo Roa
Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics, German Aerospace Center

Industry 4.0 enhances opportunities for introducing robotics in factories of all sizes, from SMEs to large companies

Expectations for the introduction of robots are high in the current context of re-shoring production lines.

Two application examples of technologies currently under development at DLR are presented:

Automatic production of one-of-a-kind assemblies using integrated recognition, planning and sensor-based execution

Using a humanoid robot for replacing humans in highly repetitive manufacturing tasks

Stream 3: Data driven decision making

How to capitalize on the value of big data in connected manufacturing?

Machine Learning in Industry 4.0 cases: Why creating value requires more than just the best algorithms

Christine Komander
Senior Solutions Architect, SAS DACH

Machine Learning and other analytics techniques are resounding throughout the industry when it comes to Industry 4.0 projects.
While everybody agrees on the critical role of analytics, we think it’s time to deflate some of the hype buzzwords – and expectations.
This paper aims to get real on how to apply machine learning to big data and explains the critical tasks of operationalizing analytical models.
It gives valuable advise on how to develop an analytical culture, paying attention to different skill levels of organizations.

Stream 3: Data driven decision making

Data analytics along the end-to-end value chain

Stefan Schrauf
Partner, PwC Strategy&

A Deep-dive into the new PwC predictive maintenance case study

Outlining an overall data analytics end-to-end framework with a focus on use cases

What are the benefits for manufacturers when deploying Industrial IoT (IIoT) solutions? Which use cases are relevant? What are the challenges involved? And who is already benefiting from Industrial IoT on the market? This inspiring presentation will address these questions and more, looking at case studies from a variety of manufacturing companies and applications to show how businesses can drive their own digital transformation and thereby become more successful.

What does it take to make the Industrial Internet of Things real?

Robin Tech
Managing Director & Co-Founder, AtomLeap

The Innovation Lab is your chance to hear from the most relevant and innovative start-ups in the IoT Security space. 8 start-ups get 4 mins to introduce their concept and company. Afterwards you have the chance to

talk to your favourite start-up in a dedicated Q&A round. The start-ups will also be present in the dedicated start-up corner throughout the event to answer any questions you have. This is where innovation happens!

The State of IIoT - unveiling of the global survey on Industrial IoT

Secured IoT Interoperability from Sensor to IT Enterprise

Stefan Hoppe
Vice President, OPC Foundation

Secured Interoperability is the key enabler to connect your device, machine or service with plug and produce experience. Learn about the world largest eco-system for industrial interoperability, including the open source framework OPC UA which have been reviewed by international security experts.
This presentation is about the differences between IIoT and Industrie4.0 but also about

what connectivity does not enough: why is semantic interoperability the key for the Industrial IoT, M2M and Industrie 4.0?

how collaboration is transforming information integration between IT and OT?

Stream 2: Technology & infrastructure

Delivering Meaningful Innovation in the IoT

Mercedes Crego Calama
Head of Open Innovation, Philips Lighting

After moving from traditional lighting to LED, the Lighting industry faces the next challenge which is digital lighting. Lighting poses an especially attractive infrastructure in the IoT space. Emphasis is placed on exploring actual open innovation initiatives within Philips Lighting which is key to unlock the full potential of digital lighting and IoT at high speed. Philips is developing connected lighting systems to explore the IoT-empowered products and services beyond illumination. Strategy, challenges and success stories will be shared.

Remote diagnostics and prognostics is a major industrial services sector in the USA with over two decades of experience, but that is today relatively unknown in Germany and Europe. This session will discuss concrete examples of US companies that employ Remote Diagnostics & Prognostics business models and technologies, and showcase the challenges and barriers that many German manufacturers see today in introducing these online services and new contract models to their customers.

Stream 4: IIoT Applications

Smart Glasses in production area: Line Clearance with Smart Glasses in Pharma Industry

Update ALL THE THINGS! From Dev to Device with DevOps

Kit Merker
VP Business Development, JFrog

Things are everywhere and connected to the Internet ‒ this is IoT. When you are building for cloud, server, and mobile technologies, DevOps is a great way to ensure continuous high-quality updates and keeping your developers happy and productive. But how do you do with IoT devices?This talk will explore how DevOps for IoT is evolving and share some trends, practices, and technologies that are emerging. Specifically, we will look at how Smart Buildings are changing the way that cities manage energy costs, increase comfort and productivity, and lead their communities. We will also explore other applications across several industries. Cloud-based DevOps techniques will be applied to software updates for a IoT solution with demonstration.

Next Generation IoT Platforms: Revival of Artificial Intelligence in the context of Industrial Analytics ‒ Spotlight on Condition Monitoring and Predictive Analytics

Experience shows that Condition Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance Services significantly add value to IoT Platforms. This especially applies when a suitable mix of traditional statistical or machine learning algorithms are used beside artificial intelligence technologies. The key question is what algorithm, what mathematical model to use in which context at what point of time in the project. This question arises especially in industrial machinery projects with their data having a different structure than those of the typical industries where artificial intelligence is used, e.g. retail. Based on data from their projects, Device-Insight shows how different artificial intelligence algorithms perform in IoT in industrial applications and identifies key success factors when using these technologies in IoT projects.

Stream 4: IIoT Applications

Focus on Value! – How to boost your journey into digital manufacturing

Digital is changing the game for manufacturers: Smart, connected products, plants, assets and operations offer the potential for individualized products, productivity gains, increased quality, cost savings, and improved revenue. The question is essentially on how to approach this dramatic change, establish which capabilities and use cases to leverage from the massive available data.

Use cases

Insight & data driven production

Long term bets on platforms and tools

Strategic aspects

Key elements of value creation for business outcome

15:00

Stream 1: Business model generation

Changing old-school industries to new service industries

Christine Billaud
Director Business Technology, Volvo CE

With +100,000 equipment being connected, Volvo CE is well engaged into its digital transformation. In this talk, you will understand how an industrial company with a long manufacturing heritage of almost 200 years has embarked into the “Internet of Yellow Machines” since 2004 to deliver more than just equipment but real value-add services and solutions to its customers.

Stream 2: Technology & infrastructure

How to Solve the Dilemma of Smart-Factory Transformation

Henk Bruijns
Strategist and Chief Technologist, HPE

The challenging journey from static to agile automation

Overcoming the limitations of traditional manufacturing applications

A new approach to factory-application transformation

Stream 3: Data driven decision making

Predictive Maintenance – Transform sensor data into a real asset

Christoph Heckmann
Linde Digitalisation Manager, The Linde Group

Linde as industrial gas company is operating hundreds of large-scale industrial plants worldwide

Huge amounts of sensor data is stored during the operation of the plants

This session will answer the question: How to transfer the abstract term “Predictive Maintenance” into reality, based on the learnings from The Linde Group.

Stream 4: IIoT Applications

Software Architecture for IoT Applications

The Internet of Things (IoT) has become the focal point of significant business interest in many industries in recent years.
It is therefore natural that software development for IoT systems has become an area of great interest and increased activity in the industry.
In this talk we examine the general software architecture of an IoT system and provide a view for the architecture that is based on blocks of functionality.The talk will discuss how these blocks of functionality map to well known concepts in networking and distributed computing suggesting a mental model that can be applied for architecting IoT software solutions in the cloud or on-premise.

15:30

Stream 1: Business model generation

Digital Manufacturing Transformation: the next wave of opportunities for productivity improvements and new revenue streams

The broad deployment of digital technology requires rethinking both business and operating models: it changes the way an organization works and can create value

Analytics and data make the difference: they drive performance, long term growth and adaptability

IT and OT convergence is key to succeed; new skills are required

Early IoT investments are driving results: productivity improvements and reduction in operating costs, improved quality and better coordination with customers

Stream 2: Technology & infrastructure

Onboarding IoT in process industry – a practicioners approach

Andreas Frejborg
Technical Sales Manager, NAPCON

The presentation will discuss the current matureness for onboarding IoT in the process industry , with focus on the Oil and Gas sector. Furthermore, the presentation will touch upon OT and IT, with cyber security and the information pyramid as focus points. As the main theme the presentation will showcase real Industrial IoT cases and give the audience both a clear path and the tools needed for their journey in creating a Digital Refinery.

Stream 3: Data driven decision making

Ready-to-use IoT solutions for connecting automation devices to the Cloud

Unlocking True Business Potential with IoT

Keith Shea
Vice president and General Manager, Helix Cloud IoT solutions Business Unit, Wind River

The Internet of Things (IoT) is burgeoning all around us, in everything from vehicles and robotics to coffeemakers and fashion accessories, creating new market opportunities and offering first mover advantage to companies able to seize the opportunities it presents.

With opportunities come challenges. Given the influx of IoT devices on the market, businesses are encountering unexpected roadblocks as designs are turned into market-ready solutions. Challenges can range from technology know-how that goes beyond the core competency of the company to more traditional issues such as connectivity, security, privacy, safety, and the difficulty of managing disparate devices with customized use cases.

Prepare your business to overcome the complexities of IoT and reap the benefits of this great new technology, on both your bottom and top lines.

17:00

Keynote

IOT is here, now it's time to protect ourselves

Kalle Ward
Managing Director EMEAR, IoT Cloud, Cisco Jasper

We know IoT is the main driver of digital transformation for companies in all industries. Through digitalization, enterprises are able to generate new revenue, and reduce their costs thanks to improved efficiency and a better customer experience.
At Cisco Jasper, we have helped more than 14000 global enterprises in all industries connect more than 50M devices to the Internet.
However, with this new reality also come new risks and threats. In fact, we are witnessing new attacks. I will show you how Cisco Jasper helps connect devices securely, how we provide a holistic view to security for connected devices, and provide solutions for the entire spectrum.

17:30

Evening Keynote

Production of the Future: How Robotics and AI transform Production and Manufacturing

In recent years robotics and artificial intelligence has gained a lot of interest also in the area of production and manufacturing. While systems for a long time have been used as tools to implement classical AI approaches in the area of object recognition, environment representation, path and motion planning etc., researchers now begin to understand that the robot itself is part of the question and has to be taken into account when thinking about AI. Robotics and AI in production and manufacturing scenarios ultimately requires for intelligent systems that come with a degree of structural (kinematic) complexity that allows them to perform on the same level as their human counterparts. This talk will survey the state of the art in robotics and outline ways to tackle the question of AI in the light of the systems as an integral part of the approach. Future milestones and key achievements will be discussed and a scenario will be presented on how to integrate modern robotic systems – that provide the above mentioned AI features and electromechanical complexity – into modern production and manufacturing scenarios. Advantages and Bottleneck’s of today’s technology will be discussed and a request is made to carefully integrate these so called disruptive technologies in a human centered way.

18:00

Closing remarks and end of congress day 1

Candy Behunin
Head of International Relations, PIABO

18:30

Networking Drinks & Dinner

Join us at Alte Münze for some well deserved drinks and dinner. The dinner is generously sponsored by our Partner GE Ventures.

ALTE MÜNZE BERLIN

Experience the production of BMW motorcycles and see Industry 4.0 in action

The products of the BMW Group inspire with unmistakable design, dynamism and agility. An exciting and fascinating experience, taking a look behind the scenes and experiencing Industry 4.0 live! Join the guided tour of the plant on

Sign up when you buy a ticket. Only 50 seats avaialable.

8:00 a shuttle bus will pick up registered attendees to drive them to the factory

9:00 - 10:30 guided factory tour

11:15 return to the bcc

9:00

Conference Welcome Day 2

Candy Behunin
Head of International Relations, PIABO

9:10

Keynote

Deploying AI in Real-World Industrial Settings

Lothar Baum
Director and Global Head of AI Enablement, Bosch Center for Artificial Intelligence, Robert Bosch

Generating commercial value from AI in highly sophisticated industrial settings is a challenge. Many application areas are big in volume, however small margins prevent large investments. Furthermore, in total quality management based settings with few ppm of deficits an AI system has to be well tuned and highly performing to generate any positive business impact.

Nevertheless, AI is a powerful mechanism for reducing production costs and optimizing processes. In this talk examples from real-world deployments of Bosch’s Center for Artificial Intelligence are shared. Important prerequisites are explained and obstacles that have to be removed are discussed.

9:40

Keynote

How IoT, Industrie 4.0 & Digital transformation are driving competitive advantage in the modern industrial economy

Christoph Papenfuss
Regional Manager, OSIsoft DACH

The pace of change in modern industry, enabled by increasing automation and access to data, is forcing established businesses to reconsider how they manage their operations to find new ways to drive efficiency and innovate. The disruptive forces that are being unleashed are affecting almost every industry and will have far reaching consequences for business models, supply chains, the way assets are managed and owned and for business and consumer relationships. In this presentation Christoph will explore some of the factors driving this movement, how industry is responding and will share details of OSIsoft’s vision to support Digital transformation and Industrie 4.0 initiatives to enable our customers to embrace and exploit the opportunities it presents.

10:10

Keynote

Urgency of Doing – Staying connected with IoT

Tanja Rueckert
President IoT and Digital Supply Chain, SAP

The need to become an intelligent and adaptive enterprise is becoming more urgent. With the Internet of Things (IoT) and other exciting new technologies, the world has dramatically changed, as has the way we do business. Fundamental aspects, like how goods are made and distributed, how products are serviced maintained and refined created a (r)evolution. Those changes affect core business processes of enterprises driven by customer demand and heightened expectations for responsiveness.

Hear from Dr. Tanja Rueckert, President IoT & Digital Supply Chain SAP SE how customers have realized new competitive differentiation and learn how SAP Leonardo IoT enables Live Business by connecting the digital enterprise core with things, people, and processes.

10:40

Introduction into Word Café sessions

A short introduction into the format and topics

World Café Sessions

World Café sessions are interactively moderated discussion rounds where pre-determined groups of delegates get the chance to address, debate and discover areas common issues, challenges but also their solutions. There will be 5 rounds of 30 min conversations.

Are IoT and Digital Transformation real? If so, what are the barriers to adoption?

Tjidde Boers
Global Account Manger, OSIsoft

This roundtable will discuss the current state of IoT and Digital transformation initiatives and explore if the market hype is connected to the reality most organizations are dealing with. The roundtable will further explore barriers to adoption and prioritize the key obstacles organizations face when seeking to innovate with IoT and Digital transformation.

World Café Round Table 4 (Group A)

Addressing the Complexities of IoT

Keith Shea
Vice president and General Manager, Helix Cloud IoT solutions Business Unit, Wind River

IoT, Artificial Intelligence and Language Technologies

Dr. Georg Rehm
Senior Researcher, DFKI; Head of the German / Austrian Office of W3C, W3C

Aljoscha Burchardt
Senior Researcher, DFKI

Which different types of software do you know (and use?) that belongs to the category often referred to as “Language Technology”?

How do you interact with your connected devices, such as, for example, components in manufacturing lines, personal assistants, fridges, coffee machines, cars, robots?

Would interactive speech technologies or chatbots, coupled with powerful knowledge technologies, and artificial intelligence be an alternative to other methods of interaction? Which languages should be supported?

Would international standards play a role in this technology sphere?

What do you see as the most interesting, disruptive, future interaction paradigm when it comes to working with and making use of connected devices? Would Language Technology have an impact on your business?

Improve your production through design thinking

Rasmus Thomsen
Partner & Innovation Strategist, IS IT A BIRD

If IoT is the answer, what is the question? In this session you can get a feeling of how you can use Design Thinking to innovation on your productionsfacilites. In small groups we will help each other to see unmeet needs and hidden possibilities for innovation. We will work with early prototyping, and hopefully by the end of this session have lots of ideas on how to use IoT to improve your production through using the process of Design Thinking.

What does it take to make the Industrial Internet of Things real?

Robin Tech
Managing Director & Co-Founder, AtomLeap

The Innovation Lab is your chance to hear from the most relevant and innovative start-ups in the IoT Security space. 8 start-ups get 4 mins to introduce their concept and company. Afterwards you have the chance to

talk to your favourite start-up in a dedicated Q&A round. The start-ups will also be present in the dedicated start-up corner throughout the event to answer any questions you have. This is where innovation happens!

Innovation ideators presenting:

Sebastian Klenk
Founder & CEO, 5Analytics

Karina Buschsieweke
Managing Director, LanaLabs

Stefan Haberkorn
Managing Director Virtual Reality, Visualimpression

Hannes Gruschinski
Business Development Manager, Ruhrbotics

Chen Linchevski
CEO, Precognize

Peter Kišša
CTO, Werksrevolution

Ben Howes
Founder & CEO, zoetrope labs

Rafael Fietzek
CEO, COMPREDICT

13:45

World Café Session Continued

14:45

Afternoon refreshment & networking break

Afternoon Plenary

15:15

Keynote

The transformative power of industrial connectivity

Eric Schaeffer
Senior Managing Director, Accenture

The internet has changed society, but not industrial systems (yet)

The changes to industrial systems that become connected will change the world and disrupt enormous markets

Available efficiencies from industrial uses of IoT will change the way products and services are currently perceived

No one organization, or even small group of companies, will hold the key; cooperation and collaboration across all platforms

Digital technologies are dramatically changing the way we design, produce and commercialise all types of goods and services. They will shape the markets of the future. To reap the potential of digital technologies across the European economy, industry in all sectors and everywhere in Europe needs to integrate digital innovations as an essential part of value creation in their business strategies.

16:45

Closing Keynote

Winning the Fire Drill: How Not to Lose at The IIOT Adoption Game

John Carrier
Senior Lecturer, MIT Sloan School of Management

Although the Industrial Internet of Things is regarded as a trillion dollar opportunity, recent studies from Cisco and the Boston Consulting Group indicate that company leaders are hesitant to invest in IIoT. This reluctance is supported by a lengthy history of problematic technology implementations, industrial incidents, and financial hardships.

Specials in 2017

BMW Motorcycles Plant Visit (Berlin Spandau )

Experience the production of BMW motorcycles and see Industry 4.0 in action

Take a look behind the scenes with manufacturing experts. The products of the BMW Group inspire with unmistakable design, dynamism and agility. An exciting and fascinating experience, taking a look behind the scenes and experiencing Industry 4.0 live! Join the guided tour of the plant on Tuesday, 19th September at 9:00 AM. Sign up when you buy a ticket. Only 50 seats avaialable.

Networking Dinner

Wind down and enjoy great food in a relaxed atmosphere

Join us for some well deserved drinks & dinner at Alte Münze Berlin. Catch up and relax with new and old friends after a full day of sessions.

Special Keynote: Kevin Ashton

Industry of Things World‘s opening keynote address will be held this year by the inventor of „Internet of Things“.

Kevin Ashton is a visionary technologist and an expert in digital transformation. He coined the term “the Internet of Things.” The European Commission, the Chinese government, and the US National Intelligence Council all describe the Internet of Things as one of the major technologies of the 21st Century. In in 2013, the term was added to the Oxford Dictionaries.

Design Thinking Master Class

Improve your production through design thinking

If IoT is the answer, what is the question? In this session you can get a feeling of how you can use Design Thinking to innovate your production facilities. In small groups we will help each other to see unmeet needs and hidden possibilities for innovation. We will work with early prototyping, and hopefully by the end of this session have lots of ideas on how to use IoT to improve your production through using the process of Design Thinking.

Innovation Lab

Implementing Industry 4.0 – The Beer Game!

Back in the mid-1950’s, Professor Jay of the MIT Sloan School was asked by General Electric to help them understand why their appliance factory would run full out with 3 to 4 shifts, while a year later orders dropped to less than a shift, even though customer demand remained relatively steady. Over a weekend, with only pencil, paper, and some plastic chips, Jay developed a supply chain simulation that would one day become known as the “Beer Game”, which is still played annually at business schools worldwide. Those of us who work in manufacturing and operations play the Beer Game every day. Industry 4.0 is NOT a replacement for the Beer Game, but it does provide a set of tools that will enable those who understand the immutable laws of Systems, as demonstrated by the Beer Game, to gain advantage over their competitors.

Join this session if you’d like to understand the rules of the game BEFORE you invest in the new technologies offered by the Industrial Internet of Things, you will want to attend this session. Workshop leader: John Carrier, Senior Lecturer, MIT Sloan School of Management.

Registration for this workshop is free with the purchase of a full conference ticket but limited to 30 participants on a first come, first served basis.

It’s a Multi-touchpoint Concept

The most effective and most informal networking hub to reach a maximum of ROI ‒ personal dialogue, direct exchange and numerous opportunities to get meetings with top executives!

Icebreaker Session

The Icebreaker session takes place on the evening before the event starts. Just when everyone arrives, we are inviting you to join us for some early networking and give you the chance to settle in the atmosphere of the event.
Glass in hand, make your way around the round tables, discuss and network with the speakers and business partners.
We invite you to a unique location and allow you to get to know your fellow conferences attendees in a relaxed and interactive setting.

Break the ice and get the show on the road!

World Café Session

The main aim of the World Café sessions is to bring industry stakeholders around one table. By entering into an open and creative conversation about key issues affecting all, sharing knowledge, ideas and insights everyone gains a deeper understanding of the challenges and solutions faced. To deepen the interaction, participants are asked to rotate to a new World Café table every 30 minutes (according to their assigned sequence of tables, decided by our proprietary algorithm. The results of each conversation are recorded on white boards and available throughout the event for people to see and reflect on.

Keynotes & Best Practices

Top speakers, trendsetters, evangelists and experts in the field take to stage to set out the strategic roadmaps of the most current issues and challenge conventional thinking. These sessions are setting the tone for the rest of the conversations of the day.

Training Session

The goals of the Training Session are to give delegates the opportunity to delve deeper into a specialized topic of their interest, to exchange experiences, challenges, questions and find together possible solutions and to have a closed group of peers with common interests and really work out suitable approaches and solutions.

Lunch Session

A lunch workshop, in which you get the chance to address and discuss your specific solution with a qualified group of participants.

Tweetback & Connect

The unique interactive live feedback system! Note down your thoughts on comment cards which will be pinned on walls in the networking area for further discussion.

Panel Discussion

A panel of experts is set up to discuss a topic that cannot be easily resolved by just one or two persons.
There are three sets of participants in a panel discussion: The panel members who consist of experts in the field concerned. The audience who ask questions of the panelists. The moderator who initiates the discussion, questions, synthesizes and summarizes the key points.

Live Tech Take

„Nothing is more convincing than seeing technology in action.“ Tech Take Live Demos aim not only to introduce new applications and tools, but to give everyone present the chance to touch, feel and experience the forefront of new technology. Don‘t miss the chance to be part of the future elite of your industry – Tech Take & Connect your business.

Networking Dinner

To round up a great day of learning and networking, a dinner is always a good option. Allow yourself to wind down, enjoy great food and drink in a relaxed atmosphere to absorb all the new stimulations from the day. The programme includes great entertainment, interesting and thought provoking evening keynotes or award ceremonies.

What is a World Café Session?

The main aim of the World Café sessions is to bring industry stakeholders around one table. By entering into an open and creative conversation about key issues affecting all, sharing knowledge, ideas and insights everyone gains a deeper understanding of the challenges and solutions faced.

To deepen the interaction, participants are asked to rotate to a new World Café table every 30 minutes (according to their assigned sequence of tables, decided by our proprietary algorithm. The results of each conversation are recorded on white boards and available throughout the event for people to see and reflect on.

How is it organised?

Based on the theory of the power of collective knowledge, participants are brought together to share challenges and jointly gain new perspectives or even develop solutions to common problems.

World Café session participants range from 12-20 per table and are assigned to each topic based on an algorithmic calculation before the event.

The host (moderator, possibly with co-moderator) of each round table welcomes the guests and briefly introduces their selected topic / challenge / question or project.

After 30 minutes, participants move to the next table based on the assigned order on their name badge to enter into a new discussion.

At the beginning of each new World Café session round, the moderator gives a short summary of the previous key points raised as well as new questions that might have emerged. This offers the opportunity to build up on the discussion continously.

After the event, all recording material is summarised by a professional World Café session expert in a final report published online and accessible to all participants.

What is the Icebreaker Session?

The Icebreaker session takes place on the evening before the event starts. Just when everyone arrives, we are inviting you to join us for some early networking and give you the chance to settle in the atmosphere of the event. Glass in hand, make your way around the round tables, discuss and network with the speakers and business partners.

We invite you to a unique location and allow you to get to know your fellow conferences attendees in a relaxed and interactive setting.

Break the ice and get the show on the road!

How is it organised?

Carefully chosen moderators are leading conversations on hot topics that will be discussed over the next few days.

No slides are allowed. Moderators will encourage open discussions in small groups addressing the key issues everyone is dealing with.

All participants are free to chose and move in and out of the conversations that lie closer to their needs.

Experience exchange and discussions are encouraged, giving you a sneak peak into the learnings of the following conference days.

Prior to the Icebreaker Session

In coordination with the event director, the moderators will jointly decide on relevant discussion topics. Short abstracts of what is going to be discussed at each table will be placed online as part of the event agenda.

At the Icebreaker Session

Once everyone is gathered in the space, an official announcement will introduce all moderators and their topics. Participants then make their way to their table of choice.

At the table, the moderator introduces the topic and leads the conversation with questions aiming at discussing different ideas, approached, solutions and exchanging experiences.

Our motto of the Icebreaker Session is: Everything is possible! If you wish to use a flipchart, discussion cards, visual aids or simply your vivid words and gestures – feel free! Involve all participants actively into your mindset and break the ice!

What is the Start-Up Lounge?

Startupbootcamp is Europe's Number 1 Accelerator and is inviting some of the most innovative and disruptive start-ups in the IoT & Data space to come, pitch their business, tell their story and meet our delegates at the Industry of Things World.

For start-ups, it's an incredible opportunity to get global exposure to top industry decision makers. They'll also receive some invaluable mentoring from world class experts and meet the Startupbootcamp team.

For the Industry of Things World delegates, it's a chance to connect with some of the most innovative, fast-moving companies to find out about new technology, explore potential partnerships and investments and prepare for future collaborations.

If you're a delegate and want to see the pitches and meet the start-ups, the Start-Up Lounge will be happening all day on Day 2, Sep 22 (from 08:00 to 18:00) in room A05/06. Just come by.

If you're a startup and want to take advantage of this incredible opportunity, here's how:

1. Complete the Startupbootcamp Barcelona application form.
2. When you get to question number 1, indicate that you want to attend the Fast Track at "Berlin @ IoT World IoT & Data - 22 September 2015".
3. We will review your application and get in touch if we need to know more.
4. Once we have all the startups chosen, we will be in touch to let you know if you're one of the lucky 12 finalists.
5. If you're accepted you will receive two full access tickets to the event, a chance to pitch your company and take questions from delegates and the Startupbootcamp team and a one-to-one mentoring session from some of our awesome mentors. You'll also get the chance to meet the Startupbootcamp IoT & Data team and ask any questions you have about the program.

Sounds good? Fill in the application form now, or email Please enable Javascript for more information.

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Matthias serves as global Domain Executive for the Hewlett Packard Enterprise´s Industry Vertical Manufacturing & Distribution, based out of Germany. He joined HPE from Siemens in 2006. His background in the consulting space means that he has great expertise in both, the OT and the IT world. For the past eight years, Matthias has worked in HPE´s consulting arm in which he was seasoned in developing solutions for customers in manufacturing, utilities and telco. Most of the recent engagements were driven by the customers LoB, with a clear focus on real business outcomes (with changing business models), rather than classic IT measures. Bridging the gap between business and IT became crucial for the majority of the companies and Matthias is one of the leaders within HPE driving this opportunity.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is an industry-leading technology company that enables customers to go further, faster. With the industry’s most comprehensive portfolio, spanning the cloud to the data center to workplace applications, our technology and services help customers around the world make IT more efficient, more productive and more secure.

Eric Schaeffer, Senior Managing Director, Accenture

Eric Schaeffer is a senior managing director at Accenture. He is leading their Digital Industry X.0 program with the objective of supporting industrial companies in harnessing digital opportunities. Schaeffer also leads one of Accenture’s global business services – Accenture Product Lifecycle Services – which provides end-to-end services to unlock value and efficiencies from product data across the entire value chain. Schaeffer’s primary industry background is automotive and industrial equipment manufacturers, his secondary industry focus is freight and logistics and transportation and travel. His project track record covers business transformation programs encompassing complex business and technology changes and he has led such programs for large and multinational companies.

Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions – underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network – Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With approximately 384,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

Prof. Dr. Martin Ruskowski, Head of the Research Department Innovative Factory Systems, DFKI

Professor Martin Ruskowski is Head of the “Department of Machine Tools and Control Systems” at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern. His major research focus is on industrial robots as machine tools, artificial intelligence in automation technology, and the development of innovative control concepts for automation. Ruskowski studied electrical engineering at Leibniz University Hannover and also received his doctorate in mechanical engineering there. Prior to his relocation to Kaiserslautern, Ruskowski held several management positions at industrial firms, most recently as Vice President for Global Research and Development at KUKA Industries Group

David Strauss, Digital Technology Lead, Nestlé

David Strauss is the Digital Technology Lead in the Digital Transformation team for Corporate Operations at our global headquarter in Vevey, Switzerland. Key areas of his responsibility include establishing our ecosystem of partners, building of competencies and program management activities associated to the digital transformation of our manufacturing and supply chain processes.

Prior to this, David worked 3 years as Head of Packaging at Nestle USA, after joining Nestle in 2010 in Nestlé’s Product Technology Center in Konolfingen, Switzerland, where he had global responsibility for packaging technologies and development for our infant formula, clinical nutrition and shelf stable dairy products. Prior to joining Nestlé in 2010, he has also held leading positions with PepsiCo International R&D, as well as Krones AG in Germany. Before that, he worked at Einbecker Brauhaus AG and at an Institute for Brewing Technologies at the Technical University of Munich.

David holds an engineering degree in Brewing and Beverage Sciences from the Technical University of Munich, as well as a degree in Business Administration from the VWA in Munich, Germany.

Andrea Gallo, VP of the Segment Groups, Linaro

Andrea Gallo is VP of the Segment Groups at Linaro and is responsible for the activities on ARM servers, networking, mobile, digital home and IoT.

Andrea was former Fellow at ST-Ericsson and representative in the Linaro Technical Steering Committee since its creation in 2010. Previously with STMicroelectronics, he established the Linux software team in Bangalore working on the Nomadik application processor in 2004. Back in 1999 he was the technical leader for the ADSL and PSTN softmodem designs.

As a summer job trainee, Andrea worked at ARM in Cambridge in July 1987 and 1988 and for several years as a freelance teenager he wrote public domain software and articles for Italian magazines in ARM and Z80 Assembly, C/C++ and BASIC.

Linaro’s mission is to lead collaboration in the ARM ecosystem by bringing together industry and the open source community to work on key projects, deliver great tools, reduce industry wide fragmentation and redundant effort, and provide common software foundations for all. The mission is not exclusive to ARM – Linaro can work on other architectures and technologies where the work benefits Linaro members and the ARM ecosystem.

Member companies fund Linaro and provide a significant proportion of its engineering resources as assignees who work full time on Linaro projects and member engineers who work on member-sponsored projects. Linaro’s engineering team, including contributed member resources, consists of about 300 software developers. Linaro engages with the broader open source community on a daily basis on IRC, mailing lists and at industry events, including at its own Linaro Connect events. The work page provides an overview of, and links to more information about, Linaro’s organization, groups, projects and initiatives.

Benjamin Godreuil, Head of the program “Usine du Futur”, SNCF

Tjidde Boers, Global Account Manger, OSIsoft

Tjidde Boers is Heading the Connected Services and OEM business for OSIsoft in EMEA Promoting, enabling and facilitating community concepts. Prior to OSIsoft, Tjidde founded and headed the Production Intelligence company Magion Universe, providing Process Solutions and Advanced Solutions for numerous processing industry organizations.

OSIsoft, LLC provides an open enterprise infrastructure to connect sensor-based data, operations, and people to enable real-time and actionable insights. It offers PI System, a product that includes various modules to analyze, collect, deliver, find, historize, and visualize enterprise data used to deliver process, quality, energy, regulatory compliance, safety, security, and asset health improvements across their operations. The company’s product allows companies engaged in various activities, such as exploration, extraction, production, generation, process and discrete manufacturing, distribution, and service aspects to leverage streaming data to optimize their businesses. It also provides PI Integrator, a software integration product for business analytics that enables utilization of sensor-based data captured within the PI System with existing advanced analytics and visualization tools. The company offers its solutions to oil and gas, chemical and petrochemical, pulp and paper, power and utility, and federal government industries; material, mine, metal, and metallurgy markets; pharmaceutical, food, and life science sectors; and critical facilities, data centers, and information technology markets. It serves customers worldwide. OSIsoft, LLC has strategic alliances with Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Ltd., Microsoft, SAP, Cisco, and Esri. OSIsoft, LLC was formerly known as OSI Systems, Inc. and changed its name to OSIsoft, LLC in 1996. The company was founded in 1980 and is based in San Leandro, California with additional offices in the United States and internationally.

Christoph Papenfuss, Regional Manager, OSIsoft DACH

Christoph joined OSIsoft in 2012 as a Global Account Manager before assuming his current role in early 2015. Prior to OSIsoft Christoph worked for IBM Cognos for nearly ten years as both the Client Services Director for the West Coast of the U.S.A. and then the Business Unit Executive managing the IBM Cognos Innovation Center for Europe. Prior to Cognos, Christoph worked as a Consulting Manager at Bearingpoint (formerly KPMG Consulting) where he advised global Fortune 500 clients in the areas of Performance Management.

OSIsoft, LLC provides an open enterprise infrastructure to connect sensor-based data, operations, and people to enable real-time and actionable insights. It offers PI System, a product that includes various modules to analyze, collect, deliver, find, historize, and visualize enterprise data used to deliver process, quality, energy, regulatory compliance, safety, security, and asset health improvements across their operations. The company’s product allows companies engaged in various activities, such as exploration, extraction, production, generation, process and discrete manufacturing, distribution, and service aspects to leverage streaming data to optimize their businesses. It also provides PI Integrator, a software integration product for business analytics that enables utilization of sensor-based data captured within the PI System with existing advanced analytics and visualization tools. The company offers its solutions to oil and gas, chemical and petrochemical, pulp and paper, power and utility, and federal government industries; material, mine, metal, and metallurgy markets; pharmaceutical, food, and life science sectors; and critical facilities, data centers, and information technology markets. It serves customers worldwide. OSIsoft, LLC has strategic alliances with Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Ltd., Microsoft, SAP, Cisco, and Esri. OSIsoft, LLC was formerly known as OSI Systems, Inc. and changed its name to OSIsoft, LLC in 1996. The company was founded in 1980 and is based in San Leandro, California with additional offices in the United States and internationally.

Alexander Graf, ZF IOT Lab Manager, ZF Friedrichshafen

The ZF IoT-Lab is a group of excited young professionals from R&D and Informatics that develop IoT prototyps and support the company on their way towards intelligent products. My main challenges are:
- Definition of Digital Business Models
- Interfacing and Partnering
- Advanced Data Analytics / Big Data
- Backend functions
- Change Management

Jesper Toubol, Vice President, Elements and Moulds, Lego

Jesper is heading up Elements and Moulds – Engineering. He has delivered organizational footprint and technology strategies within Element design and Mould Manufacturing - establishing Engineering centers in LEGO manufacturing sites in Mexico and Denmark. Responsibilities include delivering innovation to support product development and leading engineering on manufacturing sites. During his work Jesper has profound focus on how IoT can support his visions and enable the future.
Jesper has worked for LEGO in several roles. 1) Responsibility for R&D in Packaging and Processing (Decorations and Assembly) 2) Delivering coherent business plan for DUPLO product line enabling gross sales increase, establishing sustainable value chain optimizations– delivered sustainablesavings redefining product design –incl. marketing ROI, 4P and recruitment strategies for stronger consumer franchise. 2) Responsibilities for product development execution for LEGO Games , LEGO Technic , LEGO Hero Factory - leading development teams through design, sourcing and marketing process from concept to finished product. 3) establishing logistics strategy, delivered turn around results in increasing differentiated services and reducing costs by e.g. outsourcing, consolidating sites and redefining logistic service offering.

LEGO Company Limited markets and distributes children's construction toys. The company offers Lego Explore, which is a pre-school brand; Lego Next that provides abstract construction, such as Lego Mindstorms; Make & Create, which comprises the interlocking bricks; and Stories and Action that encompasses products driven by storylines or role playing, such as Bionicle. The company was incorporated in 1941 and is based in Slough, United Kingdom. It has its stores in Bluewater, Milton Keynes, and Kingston. LEGO Company Limited operates as a subsidiary of LEGO A/S.

Christian Østergaard, Head of Production IT / Business CIO, Postnord

PostNord AB provides communications and logistics solutions in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and internationally. The company provides logistics services in parcels, pallets, full and part-loads, mixed cargo groupage, thermo, third-party logistics, air and ocean, and express and courier; marketing, warehousing, and secure payment solutions for e-commerce businesses; and consulting services. It also provides distribution, mail handling, internal mail, franking, and mail collection and delivery services; market communication services, such as direct marketing, digital advertising, analyses, target group selection and addresses purchasing, and periodicals and free newspapers delivery; and business communication for companies. The company was formerly known as Posten Norden AB and changed its name to PostNord AB in April 2011. PostNord AB is headquartered in Solna, Sweden.

Sebastian Barg, Research Associate, RWTH Aachen

Sebastian Barg studied mechanical engineering and business administration with major subject in production technology at RWTH Aachen university from 2008 until 2014. Mr. Barg gathered practical experience during his internships in the energy and production industry as well as during his time as a student assistant at the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL), an institute of RWTH Aachen University. Following his master degree Mr. Barg began his work as a research associate in the department of innovation management at the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL) of RWTH Aachen University in the beginning of 2014. Since then, his research and consulting activities are focused on projects regarding the efficiency and effectiveness enhancement of product development. Furthermore, he has been focusing on projects with respect to the development of modular product platforms and variant management in the context of complexity management.
The activity profile of Mr. Barg includes both consulting as well as research projects in the fields of innovation and complexity management. A special focus is on the topics of modular product platform design, the opportunities and effects of impacts of “Industrie 4.0” in R&D, the operative variant management as well as the value analyses and complexity cost calculation and reduction.

RWTH Aachen University is a research university located in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With more than 42,000 students enrolled in 144 study programs, it is the largest technical university in Germany.
The university maintains close links to industry (one in five board members of German corporate groups has studied in Aachen) and accounts for the highest amount of third-party funds of all German universities in both absolute and relative terms per faculty member. In 2007, RWTH Aachen was chosen by the DFG as one of nine German Universities of Excellence for its future concept RWTH 2020: Meeting Global Challenges and additionally won funding for one graduate school and three clusters of excellence. RWTH Aachen is a founding member of IDEA League, a strategic alliance of four leading universities of technology in Europe. The university is also a member of TU9, DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) and the Top Industrial Managers for European network.

Michael Riesener, Head of Innovation Management, RWTH Aachen

Michael Riesener was born in 1986 in Aachen. From 2006 until 2011 he studied mechanical engineering and business administration with major subject in production technology at RWTH Aachen university. Mr. Riesener gathered practical experience during his internships in the automotive industry and consulting as well as during his time as a student assistant at the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL), an institute of RWTH Aachen University. Following his master degree, Mr. Riesener began his work as a research associate in the department of innovation management at the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering of RWTH Aachen University in the end of 2011. Since then, his research and consulting activities are focused on projects regarding the efficiency and effectiveness enhancement of product development. Furthermore, he has been focusing on projects with respect to the development of modular product platforms and variant management. He has been leader of the workgroup for complexity management from 2013 until 2015. At the end of 2015 he gained one’s doctorate at the chair for production engineering of Prof. Günther Schuh. At the beginning of 2016 he took over the division management of the department of Innovation management at the WZL.
The activity profile of Mr. Riesener includes both consulting as well as research projects in the fields of innovation and complexity management. A special focus is on topics of modular product platform design, the opportunities and effects of impacts of “Industrie 4.0” in R&D, the operative variant management, value analyses, value stream analysis as well as R&D-process optimizations.

RWTH Aachen University is a research university located in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With more than 42,000 students enrolled in 144 study programs, it is the largest technical university in Germany.
The university maintains close links to industry (one in five board members of German corporate groups has studied in Aachen) and accounts for the highest amount of third-party funds of all German universities in both absolute and relative terms per faculty member. In 2007, RWTH Aachen was chosen by the DFG as one of nine German Universities of Excellence for its future concept RWTH 2020: Meeting Global Challenges and additionally won funding for one graduate school and three clusters of excellence. RWTH Aachen is a founding member of IDEA League, a strategic alliance of four leading universities of technology in Europe. The university is also a member of TU9, DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) and the Top Industrial Managers for European network.

Dr. Michaela Colla, Director of Industry 4.0, Volkswagen

She has been responsible for Industry 4.0 in the Volkswagen Group since March 2016. Before this, she was in management functions in operative as well as in strategic positions at Volkswagen plants, in the Brand and in the Group level for many years.
She started her career at Volkswagen as an international trainee in the Production Division. In 1998 she took over the management in Logistics Planning at Volkswagen Nutzfahrzeuge (Volkswagen commercial vehicles) through functions in Industrial Engineering and Group- Program planning. Subsequently from 2001 to 2006, she became the Director of Logistics Optimization at the plant in Wolfsburg, where she was responsible for the planning of new vehicle projects, the optimization of series processes, planning of information flow, building a logistics center as well as the budget of logistics costs.
Since 2007 she has held various management positions concerning production strategy in the Volkswagen brand “mach18” as well as in the Group “strategy P 2018”.

Volkswagen AG is engaged in developing vehicles and components for its brands. It also produces and sells vehicles, in particular passenger cars and light commercial vehicles for the Volkswagen Passenger Cars and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brands. The Passenger Cars segment cover the development of vehicles and engines, the production and sale of passenger cars, and the corresponding genuine parts business. The Commercial Vehicles segment comprises the development, production and sale of light commercial vehicles, trucks and buses, the genuine parts business and related services. The Power Engineering segment consist of the development and production of large-bore diesel engines, turbo compressors, industrial turbines and chemical reactor systems, the production of gear units, propulsion components and testing systems. The Financial Services segment comprises dealer and customer financing, leasing, banking and insurance activities, fleet management and mobility services.

Dr. Thomas Usländer, Head of Department Information Management and Production Control, Fraunhofer IOSB

Dr.-Ing. Thomas Usländer holds a degree in Computer Science from the University of Karlsruhe, Germany, and a PhD in Engineering of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany. He is head of the department “Information Management and Production Control” at the Fraunhofer IOSB, Karlsruhe, Germany. His research interests include reference models and reference architectures for the Internet of Things and Services as well as the service-oriented analysis and design of open architectures where he has numerous publications. He currently represents Fraunhofer IOSB in the W3C Web Of Things Special Interest Group, the German working groups on “Industrie 4.0” of both engineering and IT associations, and is an invited speaker for research topics around the Industrial Internet of Things. He was an invited expert of the European Commission, got the OMG Application Award 2000 and several best-paper awards in international conferences. See his profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/tuslaender.

As the largest institute within the Fraunhofer Group for Information and Communication, the Fraunhofer Institute for Optronics, System Technology and Image Exploitation IOSB has been very successful in implementing the latest research results in ready-to-use solutions. These solutions offer our customers direct cash-equivalent benefits and improve their long-term competitiveness. The IOSB researches and develops innovative concepts, methods and systems for industry, medium-sized business and clients from the public sector. We always focus on the task at hand and the customer’s problem right from the very beginning.

Roberto studied computer sciences at the ‘Universidad Politécnica de Valencia’ (SPAIN), where he was awarded with one year scholarship in College of Business at Idaho State University (USA). In 2005 he completed his education with an Master of Business Administration (MBA) at Esade Business Scholl (Spain). In 2000 he began his career at Nokia Home Communications (Linkoping-Sweden), and after one year, he moved to Barcelona where he has lead the IT Business Partner area at Arbora & Ausonia (Procter & Gamble Join Venture) for 13 years. He joined pharmaceutical sector in 2013 where he currently leads the IT Business Partner Manufacturing & Supply Chain area at Almirall.

Almirall, S.A., a pharmaceutical company, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells medicines and medical devices worldwide. The company offers its products for dermatological diseases comprising actinic keratosis, psoriasis, eczema, and skin infections, as well as for multiple sclerosis; respiratory; nervous system; and other therapeutic areas. Its strategic brands include ACTIKERALL, BALNEUM, SATIVEX, SOLARAZE, and DECODERM. The company was formerly known as Laboratorios Almirall, S.A. and changed its name to Almirall, S.A. in May 2009. Almirall, S.A. was founded in 1943 and is headquartered in Barcelona, Spain.

I'm a hands-on Architect responsible for the IoT agenda and Integration Strategy of the BP Group with more than 15 years of experience in the integration domain, who loves engineering distributed systems.

BP p.l.c., incorporated on April 14, 1909, is an integrated oil and gas company. The Company holds interest in OJSC Oil Company Rosneft (Rosneft), an oil and gas company. The Company's segments include Upstream, Downstream, Rosneft, and Other businesses and corporate. The Upstream segment is engaged in oil and natural gas exploration, field development and production, as well as midstream transportation, storage and processing. The Downstream segment has global manufacturing and marketing operations. The Rosneft segment has a resource base of hydrocarbons onshore and offshore. The Other businesses and corporate segment comprises the biofuels and wind businesses, shipping and treasury functions, and corporate activities around the world. The Company provides its customers with fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, lubricants to keep engines moving and the petrochemicals products used to make everyday items as diverse as paints, clothes and packaging. It has operations in Europe, North and South America, Australasia, Asia and Africa.

Domonkos Gaspar, Head of Global Manufacturing Digitization, Autoneum

Domonkos Gaspar is an experienced leader for Business Transformation currently focusing on Digitalisation and Industry 4.0 / IIoT in the Automotive Industry. With roots in Economic Engineering and IT management, he has more than 15 years experience in defining and reliably delivering corporate/strategic initiatives in technologically demanding industries. Domonkos operates across geographies and cultures globally (Europe, Americas, Asia Pacific) on all organisational levels from CXX to shop floor.

Domonkos studied business administration and economic engineering at the Universities of Gödöllö (Hungary) and Passau (Germany),. Upon graduation as MSc, he first worked at Accenture as Analyst for business processes and ERP. Between 2003 and 2013 he was working for a number of advisory companies, such as Würth Phoenix, the internal advisory arm of the Würth Group; London Logic Partners, Schreder Group, International Business Systems (IBS) and Lean Projects raising through the ranks from consultant to project manager, Head of Buiness Unit and Program Director. His working experience gained him insights into multiple industries such as healthcare/pharma, wholesale, aviation maintenance, automotive. Over the years his specialist area became the setting up and managing business transformation with an integrated view on processes, data and technology for most efficient and sustainable results.

Domonkos Gaspar is working for Autoneum from the beginning of 2014 where he first headed the IT Program Management Office with responsibility for developing and implementing Autoneum's global IT governance model and skills management, among others. He was also responsible for the implementation of standardised business processes and SAP ERP in the North American organisation. Ad-interim, for 11 months in 2015 and 2016 Domonkos Gaspar was leading the Asian IT organisation, transformed and re-focused the IT operations and launched a number of strategic initiatives in the region. At the end of 2016, as Autoneum decided to create a dedicated unit for the identification and to utilisation of the benefits provided by Digitization and Industry 4.0, Domonkos Gaspar was appointed to head the unit.

Domonkos Gaspar is certified in a number of domains: CSCP (APICS); PRINCE2, MSP; CSM; ITIL v3 and he is engaged in University research, lecturing and publication.

Autoneum is the globally leading automobile supplier in acoustic and thermal management for vehicles. Autoneum develops and produces multifunctional and lightweight components and systems for noise and heat protection and thereby enhances vehicle comfort.

Máximo Roa, Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics, German Aerospace Center

Dr. Maximo A. Roa works since 2010 as Group Leader on Robotic Planning and Manipulation in the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics at DLR – German Aerospace Center. In 2015 he also joined Roboception, a DLR spin-off working on 3D perception solutions for robotics, as a Senior Expert on Grasping and Manipulation. Dr. Roa obtained his PhD in Robotics in 2009 at the Polytechnical University of Catalunya, and is a certified PMP. He worked previously for Hewlett Packard R&D as a Research Specialist. He currently serves as co-chair of the IEEE-RAS Technical Committee on Mobile Manipulation.

Globally leading a cross functional IT team to support the manufacturing Smart Factory Initiatives in Opel. Working with the global joint focus teams and prioritize innovation ideas generated around the globe. Leading the implementation of manufacturing Proof of Concepts and explore potential portfolio opportunities.

Adam Opel AG manufactures and sells passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in Europe. It offers cars and vans. The company was founded in 1862 and is based in Rüsselsheim, Germany with production and assembly facilities in Germany, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom. As of August 1, 2017, Adam Opel AG operates as a subsidiary of Peugeot S.A.

Irma Lindt, Head of Applications Portfolio & Innovation, DHL

Irma has joined DHL in 2008. Since then she has contributed to the company’s innovation agenda in different roles looking after innovation methodology and driving innovation projects such as Mobile Apps, Augmented Reality, Robotics and Internet of Things. Before DHL, Irma worked in research on 3D user interfaces and location-based games at Fraunhofer FIT. Irma hold a Master’s degree in computer science from the Eastern Michigan university and a PhD from the University of Koblenz.

DHL Logistics Private Limited offers supply chain management and logistics solutions to its clients. Its services include sea freight, air-freight, project forwarding, consolidation, and warehouse handling. DHL Logistics Private Limited was formerly known as DHL Lemuir Logistics Private Limited and changed its name to DHL Logistics Private Limited in April, 2012. The company was incorporated in 1996 and is based in Mumbai, India. DHL Logistics Private Limited operates as a subsidiary of Deutsche Post AG.

Nicole Segerer, Head of IoT Dach, Flexera Software

As Head of IoT Germany, Austria and Switzerland at Flexera, Nicole Segerer is responsible for presenting new solutions to software producers, to help them continue to digitalize their business models and grow their IoT and SaaS businesses further. Key topics in the sector are; software monetization, as well as securing and managing open source software. Nicole Segerer has worked in the software sector for over 10 years, specializing in software licensing and business models as well as how to monetize software, SaaS and IoT solutions.

Christine Komander, Senior Solutions Architect, SAS DACH

For almost 35 years, SAS has given its customers “The Power to Know.” And, one thing known throughout the world is that the planet’s largest privately-held software company based in Cary, N.C. is the market leader in business analytics.
SAS once stood for "statistical analysis system" and began at N.C. State University as a project to analyze agricultural research. As demand for such software grew, SAS was founded in 1976.
From reporting $138,000 in revenue in its first year being independent, the company has turned a profit annually and saw total revenue for 2010 at $2.43 billion.
SAS was built on the combined strengths of software, domain expertise, and a generation of experience helping customers across organizations, industries, and governments around the globe succeed.
While the company continues to grow, SAS remains true to its long-standing goal of helping customers transform how their businesses work and sustain a culture of fact-based decision making.
Their leading-edge business analytics framework provides customers with a flexible and straightforward path for achieving their objectives and gaining maximum return from their information assets.
Today, SAS has more than 11,000 employees and staffed offices in 55 countries. Together, the company provides software and services to more than 50,000 sites in 127 countries.
As the economy continues on its journey toward recovery, the company continues on the path of success.
Customers are increasingly turning to SAS to manage operations and engage in better risk management.
Software revenue remains strong in several areas, including customer intelligence, credit risk, supply chain and text analytics, attesting that companies striving to survive in a down economy, and succeed in times of recovery and growth, need such solutions to answer complex business problems, spur innovation, and enable success.
It is one of the few companies in the world that has been able to turn a profit every year it has been in business.
With a strong commitment to employees and in R&D (investing 24 percent of revenue in 2010) as well as being debt-free, SAS is not only a Tarheel Titan, but a global titan in technology.

Stefan Schrauf, Partner, PwC Strategy&

Stefan Schrauf is a leading practitioner in operations strategy for Strategy&, PwC’s strategy consulting business. He is a Managing Director Strategy& Germany, based in Munich. He has more than 10 years of cross-industry experience in supply-chain management, sourcing, and product development. He focuses on helping clients develop and implement strategic changes in core operations.
His experience includes supply-chain strategy and transformation and operating model design in engineered equipment, product and aftermarket businesses. Stefan is a member of the PwC/Strategy& Industry 4.0 core team.

His client work includes:
• Digital transformation in chemical and pharma industries and industrial products
• Industry 4.0 and operations improvement in industrial products
• Customer and supplier collaboration within industrial products
• Development and implementation of a global business model for aftermarket using field data to optimize solution offering
• Implementation of an end-to-end SC visibility and business intelligence logic for industrial products

He is co-author of the PwC Industry 4.0 / Industrial Internet study, which was presented in October 2014 and which gives deep insights into the challenges and opportunities of the digitalization of five selected industries.
Prior to joining Strategy&, Stefan Schrauf was a Principal in PwC’s Advisory practice and PRTM. He holds an master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Applied Science Dornbin, Austria and an MBA from the University of Durham Business School in England.

Strategy& is a global team of practical strategists committed to helping you seize essential advantage.

We do that by working alongside you to solve your toughest problems and helping you capture your greatest opportunities. These are complex and high-stakes undertakings—often game-changing transformations. We bring 100 years of strategy consulting experience and the unrivaled industry and functional capabilities of the PwC network to the task. Whether you’re charting your corporate strategy, transforming a function or business unit, or building critical capabilities, we’ll help you create the value you’re looking for with speed, confidence, and impact.

We are part of the PwC network of firms in 157 countries with more than 223,000 people committed to delivering quality in assurance, tax, and advisory services. Tell us what matters to you and find out more by visiting us at strategyand.pwc.com.

Johannes Petrowisch (*1985) is Global Partner & Business Development Manager at COPA-DATA Headquarters. He holds a degree in Business & Information Management from the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences. Johannes has a professional background in manufacturing, marketing and sales. Since 2012, he has been responsible for building up strategic partnerships, managing the worldwide partner eco-system and developing new business solutions based on latest technologies. Thereby he is especially focusing on the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Smart Factories and Smart Cities.

COPA-DATA is the technological leader for ergonomic and highly dynamic process solutions. The company, founded in 1987, develops the software zenon for HMI/SCADA, Dynamic Production Reporting, IoT and integrated PLC systems at its headquarters in Austria. zenon is sold through its own offices in Europe, North America and Asia, as well as partners and distributors throughout the world. Customers benefit from local contact persons and local support thanks to a decentralized corporate structure. As an independent company, COPA-DATA can act quickly and flexibly, continues to set new standards in functionality and ease of use and leads the market trends. Over 80,000 installed systems in more than 50 countries provide companies in the Food & Beverage, Energy & Infrastructure, Automotive and Pharmaceutical sectors with new scope for efficient automation.
On zenon
zenon is COPA-DATA`s highly versatile product family for industry-specific ergonomic process solutions in industrial automation and IoT: from sensors through to the Cloud. It consists of zenon Analyzer, zenon Supervisor, zenon Operator and zenon Logic. zenon Analyzer provides templates to create tailor-made reports (e.g. on consumption, downtimes, KPIs) based on data from IT and automation. zenon Supervisor, an independent SCADA system, allows comprehensive process monitoring and control of redundant systems, even in complex networks and with secure remote access. zenon Operator guarantees, as an HMI system, safe control of machines and simple, intuitive operation – including Multi-Touch. zenon Logic, which is an integrated IEC 61131-3-based PLC system, allows optimum process control and logical data processing. As a platform-independent portfolio for process solutions, the zenon Product Family integrates smoothly into existing automation and IT environments and provides set-up wizards and templates to enable easy configuration and simple migration from other systems. The principle of "setting parameters instead of programming" is a characteristic feature of the zenon Product Family.

Robin Tech, Managing Director & Co-Founder, AtomLeap

Robin has backgrounds in economics, business, sociology — and he currently gives his PhD thesis on how to finance hardware startups the finishing touches. He’s driven by making effective collaboration of scientists, entrepreneurs, and designers happen to create products that matter.

Robin is co-founder & MD of AtomLeap and is noted for his slow-cooking skills and finding just the right granularity of coffee to put in his espresso maker.

Sebastian Klenk, Founder & CEO, 5Analytics

Sebastian Klenk is the Founder and CEO of 5Analytics. He received his PhD in Computer Science in the area of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence in 2012. After working as a product manager in a database management software company and building up their US business from the Silicon Valley he worked for a BI-company as the team leader in product management before starting 5Analytics in 2015.

Karina Buschsieweke, Managing Director, LanaLabs

Karina is Co-Founder and Managing Director of the Berlin-based software startup Lana Labs.
After completing her Bachelor degree in Anthropolgy and Economics, Karina graduated from the Technical University Berlin with a Master of Science in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship.
She started her professional carreer as a technology analyst in the automotive industry, where she was responsible for technological foresight projects. In 2015 she met her future business partners Dr. Rami-Habib Eid-Sabagh and Dr. Thomas Baier who just finished their PhDs at the Hasso Plattner institute in Potsdam with novel research results for process data analysis. Shortly afterwards the company Lana Labs was established, which is in the market today with the innovative software solution LANA Process Mining, that enables to quickly identify saving potential and business risks in processes.

Stefan Haberkorn, Managing Director Virtual Reality, Visualimpression

VISUALIMPRESSION is a well-known German high tech company, located in Magdeburg near Berlin. Our company has been involved in the field of 3d visualization with various technologies and applications for more than 12 years. A true pioneer and specialist in that business!

Stefan Haberkorn, the owner of the company, develops interactive VR (virtual reality) simulations in a variety of industries with his team. The aim is always set high to meet customer objectives, mainly training specific content holistically and bringing it alive; or simply jumping into another world!

Virtual media enables the viewer to immerse themselves directly into the middle of a great story or into a customized simulation. They become active and enjoying themselves.
Therefore, a direct connection to the virtual event is happening that is very similar to the real world experience. No TV or computer screen visualization has ever been able to achieve that great effect. Complex industrial contexts can be captured quickly and difficult activities can be trained or learnt playfully in this way.
Live concerts, exhibitions, historical time journeys and so many other events can be experienced from all persons worldwide 24/7 without any barriers by streaming 360-degree content via the internet.

A new important milestone in history for sensations, true emotions and freedom is set!

Explore our webpage, scroll through our pages and get into contact with us.
Think big and change the world.

Hannes Gruschinski, Business Development Manager, Ruhrbotics

Hannes Gruschinski studied Mechatronics engineering at both Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, and at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana, in the United States. Subsequently, for several years, he was engaged in various research projects, wherein he addressed control and filter theory, industrial robotics, measurement and sensor technology, signal processing, and process monitoring of CNC tool making machines. For more than two years, he was a project manager with FANUC where he led a small team through an industrial robotics and body in white project with a premium car manufacturer. Quite recently, Mr. Gruschinski joined Ruhrbotics GmbH as a business development manager where he will construct a new business division on Industry 4.0, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning. He holds a Nanodegree "Deep Learning Foundation" from Udacity and is currently taking their Nanodegree on "Artificial Intelligence".

Chen Linchevski, CEO, Precognize

Chen has vast experience in management, sales and business development of industrial software. Chen is a true believer in the ability of the industrial sector to transform itself and increase efficiency more than ever by leveraging Big Data.

Previously, Chen was the CEO of Opcat, served in executive positions in Ayeca and worked with key technology companies such as GE, Israel Electricity Company, Elbit, and IAI, specializing in analysis and design of complex business analysis. Chen holds an LLB from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Peter Kišša, CTO, Werksrevolution

Peter Kišša is CTO of the affiliated companies WERKSREVOLUTION and M2M Solutions (SK). He is expert in cloud architecture and IoT platforms. Peter is leading WERKSREVOLUTIONs digital strategy and ensuring their solutions are being built on a secure and robust, but agile industrial IoT platform. Before joining WERKSREVOLUTION, Peter was working as a lead-engineer in European research projects focusing on cloud computing and its adoption within the EU. He was responsible for centric activities ranging from public presentations and publishing, strategy consulting, SW architecture design, integration and development. After finishing his studies in Management Science & Informatics at the University of Zilina (SK), Peter was working as a SW engineer in Germany and Slovakia, as well as for IBM in Canada and the USA.

WERKSREVOLUTION provokes the digital transformation of the industrial sector. We develop innovative solutions, which not only increase the productivity and efficiency of our customers in the area of logistics and production, but also enable new processes and business models. Therefore, we use the possibilities given by latest technologies, combined with the disruptive principles of the digital transformation. Be part of the revolution!

Ben Howes, Founder & CEO, zoetrope labs

I have always been entrepreneurial; I launched my first tech start-up while I was completing my Masters in Computer Science and Electronics at Bristol University.
I’m motivated by solving problems and I am passionate about technology; I find the potential that the Internet of Things holds for growing businesses really exciting, so I founded Zoetrope. I love working with our clients, delivering a remarkable solution to the new challenges that each one poses.

Rafael Fietzek, CEO, COMPREDICT

Rafael Fietzek studied Industrial Engineering in Erlangen and finished his PhD at the TU Darmstadt (Institute for Mechatronic Systems (IMS)). His doctorate supervisor was Prof. Dr.-Ing. Stephan Rinderknecht, who is also a co-founder of the COMPREDICT GmbH.

COMPREDICT was founded in 2016 in Darmstadt and offers a purely software-based solution to predict failures of automotive components. COMPREDICT’s load & lifetime monitoring acquires the dynamic components loads by sensor fusion and accumulates the induced partial damages in real-time. The application-oriented, easily adaptable and reliable lifetime monitoring system does not require any additional hardware and is based on already available vehicle sensors and signals running on the vehicle bus, such as a Controller Area Network (CAN). Furthermore, the amount of generated data is kept low, and the limited computing power and storage capacity of standard Electronic Control Units (ECU) are considered, so that the system can be implemented in all vehicles without any special expense. By going beyond the vehicle level and considering the complete vehicle fleet, the possibility of a continuous optimization procedure on basis of the load & lifetime monitoring system emerges for a better control of user profile discrepancies customer-optimized lightweight design, cost-efficiency and improved resource management. For this solution we were rewarded in 2016 by MAGNA with the Johann Puch Award. In 2017 we were the only Startup to win a main prize and the special prize at the “Gründerwettbewerb” organized by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

Nigel Upton is Worldwide Director & General Manager, IoT/GCP for Communications & Media Solutions, Communications Solutions Business, Hewlett Packard Enterprise.
Nigel’s responsibilities include architecture, development, implementation, marketing, sales and support of CMS IoT and GCP solutions. The platforms and vertical solutions target the needs of large Enterprise and Telco customers with global requirements for IoT solutions who seek a single supplier for all connectivity. Nigel’s leadership spans management of the IoT partner ecosystem for the IoT platform and for the GCP connectivity relationships globally.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is an industry-leading technology company that enables customers to go further, faster. With the industry’s most comprehensive portfolio, spanning the cloud to the data center to workplace applications, our technology and services help customers around the world make IT more efficient, more productive and more secure.
Newsroom: https://www.hpe.com/us/en/newsroom.htmlwww.hpe.com/IoT

Frithjof Netzer, SVP BASF 4.0, BASF

“At BASF, we create chemistry - and have been doing so for more than 150 years. As the world's leading chemical company, we combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Through science and innovation we enable our customers in nearly every industry to meet the current and future needs of society.”

Frithjof Netzer leads the digital transformation at BASF across divisions, regions and functions with the BASF 4.0 project.

Digital core technologies such as internet of things, big data analytics, mobility devices and augmented reality are systematically merged with BASF’s value chain. This includes procurement, supply chain, logistics, engineering, manufacturing, marketing & sales and innovation. Based on this BASF adds value to customers through digitally enabled products and services. Horizontal and vertical connections are used to increase effectiveness and efficiency of customer and supplier interactions.

Frithjof joined BASF in 1999 and held a variety of business and procurement leadership roles in coatings, hygiene, petrochemicals and performance chemicals. His jobs were located in Münster / Germany, Mt. Olive, NJ (USA), Charlotte, NC (USA), Ludwigshafen / Germany and Hong Kong.

He holds a doctoral degree in business administration from the University of Münster, Germany based on research work in the airline industry.

We create chemistry for a sustainable future

In line with our corporate purpose, around 112,000 employees contribute to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world.

Our broad portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. In 2015, BASF posted sales of €70 billion and income from operations before special items of approximately €6.7 billion. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Through research and innovation, we support our customers in nearly every industry in meeting the current and future needs of society. We have summed up this contribution in our corporate purpose: We create chemistry for a sustainable future.

Stefan Hoppe, Vice President, OPC Foundation

Stefan Hoppe is the OPC Foundation Vice President since begin 2015 coordinating the OPC expansion into the Internet of Things & Industrie4.0.

Stefan has been the President of the OPC Europe organization since 2010 being the catalyst for initiating liaisons with other industrial consortiums that has resulted in OPC working groups developing companion specifications for the organizations respective information models.

Stefan Hoppe studied electrical engineering at the Technical University of Dortmund, Germany. Since 1995 he has worked for BECKHOFF Automation, starting as a software developer in the TwinCAT Automation team. Later as a lead Product Manager his a focus was on connectivity and embedded software products.

You can reach Stefan under stefan.hoppe@opcfoundation.org

OPC is the interoperability standard for the secure and reliable exchange of data in the industrial automation space and in other industries. It is platform independent and ensures the seamless flow of information among devices from multiple vendors. The OPC Foundation is responsible for the development and maintenance of this standard.
The OPC standard is a series of specifications developed by industry vendors, end-users and software developers. These specifications define the interface between Clients and Servers, as well as Servers and Servers, including access to real-time data, monitoring of alarms and events, access to historical data and other applications.
When the standard was first released in 1996, its purpose was to abstract PLC specific protocols (such as Modbus, Profibus, etc.) into a standardized interface allowing HMI/SCADA systems to interface with a “middle-man” who would convert generic-OPC read/write requests into device-specific requests and vice-versa. As a result, an entire cottage industry of products emerged allowing end-users to implement systems using best-of-breed products all seamlessly interacting via OPC.
Initially, the OPC standard was restricted to the Windows operating system. As such, the acronym OPC was borne from OLE (object linking and embedding) for Process Control. These specifications, which are now known as OPC Classic, have enjoyed widespread adoption across multiple industries, including manufacturing, building automation, oil and gas, renewable energy and utilities, among others.
With the introduction of service-oriented architectures in manufacturing systems came new challenges in security and data modeling. The OPC Foundation developed the OPC UA specifications to address these needs and at the same time provided a feature-rich technology open-platform architecture that was future-proof, scalable and extensible.
These are just some of the reasons why so many members and other technology organizations (collaborations) are turning to OPC UA for their interoperability platform.

Mercedes Crego Calama, Head of Open Innovation, Philips Lighting

Dr. Mercedes Crego Calama is currently the Head of Open Innovation Europe in Philips Lighting since September 2014. Main activities are structuring the Open Innovation activities in Philips Lighting including scouting for breakthrough technologies, crowd sourcing, partnership and ventures.

Until August 2014, she worked in the Dutch Polymer Institute as Program Area Coordinator. She was also DPI operations manager.

From 2006 until 2012 she worked as Program Manager & Sr. Principal Scientist at imec-nl/Holst Centre in the Netherlands. She worked in innovation-driven R&D activities related to emerging markets in Life-style, Personalize Health and Food/IAQ Monitoring electronic devices. Here Mercedes had also several senior leadership positions including general management of the Low power wireless sensors and Energy harvesting groups.

Prior to joining the Holst Centre in 2006 Mercedes has held different scientific/Professorship positions at Universities in Spain, USA and The Netherlands.

Dr. Mercedes Crego Calama is author of more than 150 publications in highly rated scientific and technical international journals, 18 patents and 8 chapter books. She is also the principal editor of 1 book.

Mercedes won several awards and prices among which Best Professor in the Chemical Engineering Faculty, Twente University, Netherlands and the YOUNG LECTURER AWARD in the Royal Society of Chemistry, University of East Anglia, England.

Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is a diversified Health and Well-being company, focused on improving people’s lives through timely innovations. As a world leader in healthcare, lifestyle and lighting, Philips integrates technologies and design into people-centric solutions, based on fundamental customer insights and the brand promise of “sense and simplicity”. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips employs approximately 116,000 employees in more than 60 countries worldwide. With sales of EUR 23 billion in 2009, the company is a market leader in cardiac care, acute care and home healthcare, energy efficient lighting solutions and new lighting applications.

Dr. Lee is Managing Partner of Innovarium Ventures, a strategic, financial and technical advisory services firm based in Silicon Valley. He also served as Principal and co-founder of Space Angels Network, a professionally managed national network of accredited investors focused on seed- and early-stage aerospace-related ventures. Dr. Lee's European experience includes 10+ years of professional and academic assignments in Dublin (Member, National Innovation Taskforce, Office of the Prime Minister, Govt of Ireland - 2009/2010), Stuttgart (DaimlerChrysler Research Labs), Munich (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München), Vienna (Bundesamt für Eich- und Vermessungswesen), Geneva (International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations - IUF), Prague (Univerzita Karlova v Praze), Barcelona and London. Burton holds a PhD in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (minor) from Stanford University (2002), and an MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurship (Cornell, 2004). He speaks German and Spanish.

Stanford University is a private research university in Stanford, California, adjacent to Palo Alto and between San Jose and San Francisco. Its 8,180-acre (12.8 sq mi; 33.1 km2) campus is one of the largest in the United States. Stanford's undergraduate program is the most selective in America.Due to its academic strength, wealth, and proximity to Silicon Valley it is often cited as one of the world's most prestigious universities.

Rocio Martin – Global Technical Services, Global Engineer in Pfizer. Rocio is an Industrial Engineer working as Process Automation Manager in Pfizer (life science company). She is based in Madrid (Spain) and loves working globally for facilities around the globe (EU, USA, Canada, China, Australia mainly). Rocio has 9 years of experience in the life science industry and 17 years of experience in Automation. Prior to working in Pfizer, she was working with several engineering companies developing process control software and managing projects for the automobile, aeronautical, petrochemical and energy industries. She is part of the Steering Committee in ISPE Spain and ISPE GAMP Europe and part of “mujeres tech (women in tech) @MujeresTech”

Pfizer Inc. (Pfizer), incorporated on June 2, 1942, is a research-based global biopharmaceutical company. The Company is engaged in the discovery, development and manufacture of healthcare products. Its global portfolio includes medicines and vaccines, as well as consumer healthcare products. The Company manages its commercial operations through two business segments: Pfizer Innovative Health (IH) and Pfizer Essential Health (EH). IH focuses on developing and commercializing medicines and vaccines that improve patients' lives, as well as products for consumer healthcare. IH therapeutic areas include internal medicine, vaccines, oncology, inflammation and immunology, rare diseases and consumer healthcare. EH includes legacy brands, branded generics, generic sterile injectable products, biosimilars and infusion systems. EH also includes a research and development (R&D) organization, as well as its contract manufacturing business. As of December 31, 2016, the Company sold its products in over 125 countries.

Kit Merker, VP Business Development, JFrog

Kit leads Business Development at JFrog, helping to accelerate software development across all aspects of DevOps via partners. At Google, he was an early product manager for Kubernetes and spent 10 years shipping products at Microsoft.

Michael J. Capone, Executive Director – Digital Transformation, EY

Prof. Dr. Michael Capone, Executive Director for Digital Transformation at EY, has 20 years of experience with Internet-of-Things. As a psychology researcher at the University California of San Diego in the 1990´s, he developed one of the first IoT solutions for the healthcare field using wearable devices to monitor the mental health of patients. IoT and Big Data Analytics enabled Capone to capture and analyze data from thousands of patients simultaneously and conduct some of the world´s largest studies in mental health. In 2005, Capone was named Professor of Customer Relationship Management at San Diego State University, where he adapted his approach to monitor consumer behavior. His now patented IoT system is used by retailers, entertainment companies, travel companies, and security agencies around the world. Capone moved with his family from San Diego to Hamburg in 2011 and has worked since then as a researcher and technology consultant. Capone is not a techie, but an avid tech user. As Executive Director for Digital Transformation at EY, he champions the company´s cross-domain consulting approach. Capone has published numerous academic papers on behavior and technology, and his recent book titled “Viral” received the Kennedy Book Prize in March 2017.

The global EY organization is a leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. We leverage our experience, knowledge and services to help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We are ideally equipped for this task – providing well trained employees, strong teams, excellent services and outstanding client relations. Our global purpose is to drive progress and make a difference by building a better working world – for our people, for our clients and for our communities.
We know that entrepreneurship and innovation is key to stronger local and regional economies, growth and economic development. By using our technical skills in crucial matters of business, strategy, tax, law, legal structure, finance and business development, we support start-ups and their entrepreneurs. This also includes investor relations, internationalization as well as exit readiness programs. We provide our services from one single source of contact and many experts. Entrepreneurs and innovators get access to EY’s international network and employees who have extensive experience in working with start-ups. Furthermore, we seek to convene a dialog between innovative entrepreneurs and established businesses, helping the latter secure projects in the strategy, innovation management and business transformation arena.
The global EY organization refers to all member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited (EYG). Each EYG member firm is a separate legal entity and has no liability for another such entity’s acts or omissions. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. For more information, please visit www.ey.com.
In Germany, EY has 22 locations. In this portrait, “EY” and “we” refer to all German member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited. For more information, visit www.ey.com.

Dr. Babak Farrokhzad is with Device Insight as a Solution Expert in Predictive Analytics. He has spent more than 20 years in the electrical and machinery industry. He has working experience in predevelopment as well as sales, and with his teams has successfully defined and launched several intelligent drives in Europe, China and the US. Babak holds a PhD from the Technical University of Dortmund in condition monitoring and reliability prediction for power electronic devices.

Device Insight was founded in 2003 and is one of the leading software providers for IoT platforms and M2M solutions for facilities and machines (M2M Communication). CENTERSIGHT® is a modular, persistent and multidisciplinary solution that supports our customers' M2M strategies. We see our customer through the entire value chain, starting with business case analysis to implementing and operating. Our solutions will help optimise your business to make it even more efficient. It will reduce your operating costs, improve quality, customer satisfaction and support you in offering new and trend-setting services.

Dr. Rossmann has joined Capgemini in 2006 and is responsible to drive the groups service offering on Digital Manufacturing across all Capgemini divisions. The focus is on improving the digital maturity of core manufacturing functions across product and asset life cycle management, operations management, system simulation, and industrial cybersecurity. It covers all industrial sectors spanning from Aerospace & Defense, Automotive, Chemicals, Consumer Products, through Energy and Utilities, High Tech, Industrial Products, Life sciences up to Resources.
Markus Rossmann holds an engineering degree and a PhD in electrical engineering where he worked both in the fields of computer science and biological Neuroinformatics.

Capgemini SE provides consulting, technology, and outsourcing services. It operates through Consulting Services, Technology & Engineering Services, Application Services, and Other Managed Services segments. The company offers consulting services in the areas of digital transformation, strategy and transformation, supply chain management, finance transformation, people and performance, CIO strategy and transformation, accelerated solutions environment, and big data and analytics, as well as marketing, sales, and services. It also designs, develops, and implements technology projects; and provides system integration, and IT application development and maintenance services. In addition, the company integrates, manages, and/or develops client’s IT infrastructure systems, transaction services, on-demand services, and/or business process outsourcing services; and offers professional technology services for applications, engineering, testing, and operations. It serves aerospace and defense, consumer products and retail, high tech, life sciences, automotive, distribution and transportation, industrial products, manufacturing, telecom, media and entertainment, banking and capital markets, healthcare, insurance, utilities, and oil and gas sectors, as well as public sector. The company has operations in North America, France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Benelux, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Japan, Mexico, and Singapore. Capgemini SE was founded in 1967 and is based in Paris, France.

Christine Billaud, Director Business Technology, Volvo CE

Christine Billaud leads the Business Technology track within the Industrial Internet strategy & business development team within Volvo Construction Equipment. Christine and her team develop the strategy for the next generation of IoT platform and Advanced Analytics as the foundation for developing new connected services & solutions for the Construction Industry. Christine has been working for Volvo CE for the last 9 years, holding various positions in Business IT in Europe and Asia-Pacific in the sales & marketing domain. Christine holds a Master in International Business from the Rennes Business School in France and Open University of London. Christine is married with two daughters and currently lives in Brussels where Volvo CE has its headquarters.

AB Volvo is the parent company of the Volvo Group. The Volvo Group is a manufacturer of trucks, buses, construction equipment, diesel engines, and marine and industrial engines. The Volvo Group also provides solutions for financing and service. Its segments include Trucks, Construction Equipment, Buses, Volvo Penta, Group functions & Other, and Financial Services. The Company's brand portfolio consists of Volvo, Volvo Penta, UD, Terex Trucks, Renault Trucks, Prevost, Nova Bus and Mack. In addition to vehicles and machines, its offering includes a range of services, such as insurance, rental services, spare parts, preventive maintenance, service agreements, assistance services and information technology (IT) services. Its product range is divided into Vehicles and Services. The sale of new vehicles, machinery and engines comprise Vehicles, as well as the sale of used vehicles and machines, trailers, superstructures and special vehicles. Its Services include the sale of spare parts.

Henk Bruijns, Strategist and Chief Technologist, HPE

Henk is a Strategist within HPE’s EMEA Enterprise Group responsible for developing strategic business partnerships with HPE’s largest and most complex customers. Henk works with clients, HPE teams and partners across the EMEA region as a leader in all aspects of new and emerging technologies, e.g. IoT, to meet client objectives.

Within the Digital Solutions and Technology team, Henk has a specific focus on customer challenges in the Communications Media and Entertainment vertical, having over 25 years’ experience in this industry.

Henk’s strength in architecture, innovation and business development is particularly important for multinational customers with core businesses rooted in technology like cloud and communications service providers, manufacturers, and utilities.

He acts as a customer advocate internally within HPE to ensure client requirements are fully understood by research and development teams, so that HPE is well placed to meet industry and client future needs.

Prior to joining HPE, Henk held a diverse range of senior roles working at KPN, Capgemini, Ericsson, Nortel, a Microsoft Gold partner, and Accenture. He lives in the Amsterdam Airport area and holds a Master’s degree in Physics with an additional exam in Computer Science from the Free University of Amsterdam.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is an industry-leading technology company that enables customers to go further, faster. With the industry’s most comprehensive portfolio, spanning the cloud to the data center to workplace applications, our technology and services help customers around the world make IT more efficient, more productive and more secure.

Christoph Heckmann, Linde Digitalisation Manager, The Linde Group

After his studies of mechanical engineering and a semester abroad in South Africa, Christoph held various positions within the Engineering Division of the Linde Group. As founding member, he contributed significantly to the ramp up of the new Linde Digitalisation unit in 2015.

Industry 4.0, Internet of Things, Big Data Analytics and Augmented Reality are no longer abstract terms, but are more and more implemented successfully into the company’s business.

Christoph is convinced, that all stored data within the company is an undiscovered treasure. Convinced that we have to treat the data as a real asset, he is leading the predictive maintenance efforts for the Linde Group

Linde AG is a Germany-based gas and engineering company that operates through three segments: Gases, Engineering and Other. The Gases segment offers a wide range of compressed and liquefied -gases, as well as chemicals to various industries, including energy, steel production, chemical processing, environmental protection and welding, as well as in food processing, glass production and electronics. The Engineering division offers planning, project development and construction of turnkey industrial plants, such as petrochemical and chemical plants, refineries, fertilizer plants, as well as olefin, natural gas, air separation, hydrogen and synthesis gas plants. The Other segment comprises logistics services of the Company's subsidiary Gist, which specializes in the distribution of chilled food and beverages.

Hamid Montazeri is the Director of Software Engineering for the Stanley Black & Decker Digital Accelerator. He has 25 years of experience in delivering software systems in many fields including IoT, control systems, numerical analysis and simulation systems, semiconductor equipment, retail, banking and investment, electric energy, media, and digital asset management. At Stanley Black & Decker, he leads the Digital Accelerator scrum teams that are responsible for the design and development of digital and connected products leveraging cloud, IoT, and mobile development technologies.

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc., incorporated on June 4, 1901, is a global provider of hand tools, power tools and related accessories, mechanical access solutions, such as automatic doors and commercial locking systems, electronic security and monitoring systems, healthcare solutions, engineered fastening systems and products and services for various industrial applications. The Company's segments include Tools & Storage, Security and Industrial. Its Tools & Storage segment consists of the power tools and hand tools, accessories and storage (HTAS) businesses. Its Security segment consists of the convergent security solutions (CSS) and mechanical access solutions (MAS) businesses. Its Industrial segment consists of the engineered fastening and infrastructure businesses. It offers brands, such as Newell Tools and Craftsman, Irwin, Lenox and Craftsman.

Christopher Phillips is a Technical lead for the Stanley Black & Decker Digital Accelerator. Christopher specializes in distributed and cloud based systems and provides technical and implementation leadership in the design and development of digital and IoT enabled products using those technologies. At Stanley Black & Decker, Christopher has been focusing on technical ways to leverage IoT technologies in industrial settings.

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc., incorporated on June 4, 1901, is a global provider of hand tools, power tools and related accessories, mechanical access solutions, such as automatic doors and commercial locking systems, electronic security and monitoring systems, healthcare solutions, engineered fastening systems and products and services for various industrial applications. The Company's segments include Tools & Storage, Security and Industrial. Its Tools & Storage segment consists of the power tools and hand tools, accessories and storage (HTAS) businesses. Its Security segment consists of the convergent security solutions (CSS) and mechanical access solutions (MAS) businesses. Its Industrial segment consists of the engineered fastening and infrastructure businesses. It offers brands, such as Newell Tools and Craftsman, Irwin, Lenox and Craftsman.

Michel is a senior sales and business leader at Rockwell Automation, with 25 years’ experience in Manufacturing Automation and Information Software. He build his career enabling Manufacturers to release unhidden potential within their operations and supply chain.
His expertise is helping organizations identifying levers to increase their performance, reduce costs and reimagine their manufacturing models by leveraging OT & IT technology in the digital transformation of their operations.
With passion and additionally certified in sustainability and corporate social responsibility, he drives companies to run, grow, and transform their manufacturing networks to better serve their customers in a better digitized world.
He held multiple operational and functional roles, lived and work in Europe and North-America, has extensive international experiences and strong management track record, and always started or run businesses in an intra-preneurial spirit.
He holds an MBA from European Management Business School in Strasbourg, France as well a Master on IT engineering from HEI University in Lille, France.

Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK), the world’s largest company dedicated to industrial automation and information, makes its customers more productive and the world more sustainable. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., Rockwell Automation employs about 22,000 people serving customers in more than 80 countries.
We at Rockwell Automation support customers in their digital transformation journey, to create a Connected Enterprise. This impacts the entire value chain, from components to systems and from suppliers to customers. This transformation is the key to hidden value and can make a significant contribution to the productivity, quality, compliance, and profitability of your enterprise.

With our plant floor knowhow, innovative spirit and unmatched partner network, Rockwell Automation is extremely well positioned to team with customers to reap the most value from these advancements.

The Connected Enterprise
The Connected Enterprise links production lines, in-the-field assets, utilities and enterprise IT to deliver contextualized information where it is needed. As a result, companies can make better decisions faster – and achieve a new level of operational intelligence to improve productivity and global competitiveness.
Built on a secure, standard Ethernet infrastructure, The Connected Enterprise is enabled by our Integrated Control and Information portfolio. Our broad, information-enabled portfolio includes the Integrated Architecture®, Intelligent Motor Control, and Solutions and Services.

Andreas Frejborg, Technical Sales Manager, NAPCON

Andreas Frejborg has 20 years of experience in real time information of Oil and Gas. He has deep knowledge in design, configuration, testing and commissioning real time process information systems. Furthermore Andreas has acted as Project Manager and Project Lead in several real time information related projects ranging from study phase to execution. For the past years Andreas has acted as advisor to several clients in their efforts to push digitalization of their process to the next level.

Neste Jacobs is a preferred solution provider of high-quality technology, engineering and project services for a wide range of industries in the fields of oil and gas, petrochemicals, chemicals, biorefining, biochemicals, biopharma and industrial infrastructure. We have 60 years of experience in technology development and industrial investment projects as well as maintenance and performance improvement in Europe, North and South America, Asia and the Middle East. In addition to our home market Nordic countries we are looking to grow in the global expanding markets. We employ 1300 professionals globally. www.nestejacobs.com

Abhijit is Area Director for Digital Practice and IoT for L&T Technology Services (LTTS). He leads the development and deployment of Digital Solutions for customers in Europe. Abhijit has expertise in Sales, Technical Presales and Technology Evangelism and he works closely with companies engaged in Industrial IoT and M2M Communication. Abhijit holds Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Networks from University of Southern California, USA.

Candy Behunin, Head of International Relations, PIABO

Candy Behunin is Head of International Relations at PIABO PR, Europe's agency for leading digital and technology brands.

Her background started with a bachelor's in design / digital media marketing, but after graduating from Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, with a Masters Degree from WHU business school in Germany, she decided to go into the tech industry.

Since 2013 she has taken on positions as: Head of Marketing at HitFox Group (company builder), Head of Growth at Adjust (adtech), VP of Marketing at Unu Motors (e-scooter), PR advisor to Splash VR, and early stage deal flow Analyst for Asgard Capital focusing on artificial intelligence and hardware startups. She has grown with the Berlin scene from it's social mobile trends, to e-commerce, onto bigger visions like cryptocurrency and the latest discussions in AI and VR innovations.

PIABO is an owner-operated communications agency based in Berlin, Germany. Our team combines profound industry knowledge with a pragmatic approach. With our creative PR, we understand the influence and importance of both online and traditional media. Through these outlets, we gain extensive media exposure to build curiosity around your product and message: Whether journalists or your target audience, we get people talking. Deep understanding and reinforcement of our client’s strategy provides us with the tools needed for your business growth and development. Our shared wealth of experience consists of sound knowledge within the areas of PR, Online Marketing, Branding, Design, IT, Editorial Services, Media Management, Communications and Social Sciences.

Kevin Ashton, Inventor of the “Internet of Things”

Kevin Ashton is a visionary technologist and an expert in digital transformation. He coined the term “the Internet of Things.” The European Commission, the Chinese government, and the US National Intelligence Council all describe the Internet of Things as one of the major technologies of the 21st Century. In in 2013, the term was added to the Oxford Dictionaries.

Making Sense of The Internet of Things

What is the Internet of Things really, how will it change the world in our lifetimes, and how can we take advantage of it? This inspiring keynote describes the coming world in concrete detail, explains exactly what the Internet of Things is and why it matters, and looks at on case studies from a variety of industries and applications to show how businesses can succeed—or fail—by adopting it.

Nigel Upton is Worldwide Director & General Manager, IoT/GCP for Communications & Media Solutions, Communications Solutions Business, Hewlett Packard Enterprise.
Nigel’s responsibilities include architecture, development, implementation, marketing, sales and support of CMS IoT and GCP solutions. The platforms and vertical solutions target the needs of large Enterprise and Telco customers with global requirements for IoT solutions who seek a single supplier for all connectivity. Nigel’s leadership spans management of the IoT partner ecosystem for the IoT platform and for the GCP connectivity relationships globally.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is an industry-leading technology company that enables customers to go further, faster. With the industry’s most comprehensive portfolio, spanning the cloud to the data center to workplace applications, our technology and services help customers around the world make IT more efficient, more productive and more secure.
Newsroom: https://www.hpe.com/us/en/newsroom.htmlwww.hpe.com/IoT

Keith Shea, Vice president and General Manager, Helix Cloud IoT solutions Business Unit, Wind River

Keith Shea is vice president and general manager of the Helix Cloud IoT solutions business unit at Wind River, where he is responsible for the company’s SaaS business. His team is chartered with developing and delivering to the market the product portfolio for the IoT, as well as managing key customer relationships across broad markets. Keith is also responsible for the ongoing leadership of the Wind River alliance program. Prior to Wind River, he spent more than a decade at Intel Corporation helping the Wind River parent company grow its revenue through strategic software and hardware ventures.
During his tenure with Intel he held assignments in corporate development, product management, marketing, and sales. Prior to Intel, he worked in the telecommunications software industry with positions in marketing, sales, and product management. He holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Boston College and an MBA from the Wharton School.

Wind River®, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel® Corporation, is a world leader in delivering software for the Internet of Things (IoT). The company’s comprehensive product portfolio, Wind River Helix™, addresses the emerging needs of the IoT, from the secure and managed intelligent devices at the edge, to the gateway, into the critical network infrastructure, and up into the cloud. Wind River technology is found in nearly 2 billion devices and is backed by world-class professional services, award-winning customer support, and the industry’s broadest partner ecosystem. Wind River delivers the technology and expertise that not only enables the deployment of safe, secure, and reliable intelligent systems, but also harnesses the intelligence in those systems to drive innovation and business transformation. To learn more, visit Wind River at www.windriver.com.

Kalle Ward, Managing Director EMEAR, IoT Cloud, Cisco Jasper

Kalle Ward is Managing Director EMEAR for Cisco's IoT Cloud business unit. A member of the IoT Cloud business unit’s sales leadership team, Kalle joined Jasper as regional managing director for EMEA and has been instrumental in growing the business and Cisco Jasper’s footprint across the region. He has more than 10 years of IoT experience in sales, strategy, management and business development. He started his career in IoT with Wireless Maingate, an IoT pioneer, which was acquired by Sierra Wireless. He also served as a board member for Telematics Valley, a pan European organization focused on driving innovation across the fleet management and automotive eco system. Kalle was a member of the Northern European leadership team for Vodafone M2M Nordics for several years, helping establish and grow the Nordics business 100% year-over-year.
Kalle holds an B.Sc Electrical Engineering and Economics from Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and a PMI from Washington University.

Cisco Jasper is a global Internet of Things (IoT) platform leader. We believe that IoT is more than a smart thing, a great app, and a way to connect to the internet. It’s not about things, it’s about meeting the changing needs and expectations of customers with new services, experiences and business models that deliver bottom line growth.

For more than a decade we’ve been helping companies worldwide launch, manage and monetize connected IoT services to drive business transformation and deliver innovative connected services.

More than 11,000 companies of all sizes use Control Center, our automated connectivity management platform, to ensure the secure, reliable delivery of IoT services that enhance customer experiences and drive revenue.

Frank Kirchner is full professor at the Computer Science Faculty of the University of Bremen, CEO of the Robotics Innovation Center and speaker of the Bremen location of the German Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI). Prof. Kirchner is also Scientific Director of the Brazilian Institute of Robotics (BIR). He is a leading expert in research on biologically inspired locomotion and behaviour of highly redundant, multifunctional robotic systems. For a number of PhD students he is the principal supervisor and he regularly serves as a reviewer for a series of international scientific journals and conferences. Frank Kirchner also is author of more than 200 publications in the field of Robotics and AI, including space robotics.

The German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, with sites in Kaiserslautern, Saarbrücken, Bremen (with an associated branch in Osnabrück) and a project office in Berlin, is the leading German research institute in the field of innovative software technology. In the international scientific community, DFKI ranks among the most recognized "Centers of Excellence" and currently is the biggest research center worldwide in the area of Artificial Intelligence and its application in terms of number of employees and the volume of external funds.

Candy Behunin, Head of International Relations, PIABO

Candy Behunin is Head of International Relations at PIABO PR, Europe's agency for leading digital and technology brands.

Her background started with a bachelor's in design / digital media marketing, but after graduating from Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, with a Masters Degree from WHU business school in Germany, she decided to go into the tech industry.

Since 2013 she has taken on positions as: Head of Marketing at HitFox Group (company builder), Head of Growth at Adjust (adtech), VP of Marketing at Unu Motors (e-scooter), PR advisor to Splash VR, and early stage deal flow Analyst for Asgard Capital focusing on artificial intelligence and hardware startups. She has grown with the Berlin scene from it's social mobile trends, to e-commerce, onto bigger visions like cryptocurrency and the latest discussions in AI and VR innovations.

PIABO is an owner-operated communications agency based in Berlin, Germany. Our team combines profound industry knowledge with a pragmatic approach. With our creative PR, we understand the influence and importance of both online and traditional media. Through these outlets, we gain extensive media exposure to build curiosity around your product and message: Whether journalists or your target audience, we get people talking. Deep understanding and reinforcement of our client’s strategy provides us with the tools needed for your business growth and development. Our shared wealth of experience consists of sound knowledge within the areas of PR, Online Marketing, Branding, Design, IT, Editorial Services, Media Management, Communications and Social Sciences.

Chris Reid, CSE - IoT Cloud CCar Lead, Cisco Jasper

Cisco Jasper is a global Internet of Things (IoT) platform leader. We believe that IoT is more than a smart thing, a great app, and a way to connect to the internet. It’s not about things, it’s about meeting the changing needs and expectations of customers with new services, experiences and business models that deliver bottom line growth.

For more than a decade we’ve been helping companies worldwide launch, manage and monetize connected IoT services to drive business transformation and deliver innovative connected services.

More than 11,000 companies of all sizes use Control Center, our automated connectivity management platform, to ensure the secure, reliable delivery of IoT services that enhance customer experiences and drive revenue.

Matthias Kovatsch, Senior Research Scientist, Siemens

Matthias Kovatsch is a Senior Research Scientist at Siemens Corporate Technology and a Research Associate at ETH Zurich with a focus on Web technology for resource-constrained embedded devices. He is the creator of the Eclipse Californium (Cf) CoAP framework , Contiki’s Erbium (Er) REST Engine, and the Copper (Cu) Firefox add-on. With his passion for R&D and interest in building a Web of Things around networked embedded systems, large-scale distributed systems, and RESTful environments, he is active as an IoT Directorate member of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and a co-chair of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web of Things Interest Group as well as Working Group.

Tjidde Boers, Global Account Manger, OSIsoft

Tjidde Boers is Heading the Connected Services and OEM business for OSIsoft in EMEA Promoting, enabling and facilitating community concepts. Prior to OSIsoft, Tjidde founded and headed the Production Intelligence company Magion Universe, providing Process Solutions and Advanced Solutions for numerous processing industry organizations.

OSIsoft, LLC provides an open enterprise infrastructure to connect sensor-based data, operations, and people to enable real-time and actionable insights. It offers PI System, a product that includes various modules to analyze, collect, deliver, find, historize, and visualize enterprise data used to deliver process, quality, energy, regulatory compliance, safety, security, and asset health improvements across their operations. The company’s product allows companies engaged in various activities, such as exploration, extraction, production, generation, process and discrete manufacturing, distribution, and service aspects to leverage streaming data to optimize their businesses. It also provides PI Integrator, a software integration product for business analytics that enables utilization of sensor-based data captured within the PI System with existing advanced analytics and visualization tools. The company offers its solutions to oil and gas, chemical and petrochemical, pulp and paper, power and utility, and federal government industries; material, mine, metal, and metallurgy markets; pharmaceutical, food, and life science sectors; and critical facilities, data centers, and information technology markets. It serves customers worldwide. OSIsoft, LLC has strategic alliances with Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Ltd., Microsoft, SAP, Cisco, and Esri. OSIsoft, LLC was formerly known as OSI Systems, Inc. and changed its name to OSIsoft, LLC in 1996. The company was founded in 1980 and is based in San Leandro, California with additional offices in the United States and internationally.

Keith Shea, Vice president and General Manager, Helix Cloud IoT solutions Business Unit, Wind River

Keith Shea is vice president and general manager of the Helix Cloud IoT solutions business unit at Wind River, where he is responsible for the company’s SaaS business. His team is chartered with developing and delivering to the market the product portfolio for the IoT, as well as managing key customer relationships across broad markets. Keith is also responsible for the ongoing leadership of the Wind River alliance program. Prior to Wind River, he spent more than a decade at Intel Corporation helping the Wind River parent company grow its revenue through strategic software and hardware ventures.
During his tenure with Intel he held assignments in corporate development, product management, marketing, and sales. Prior to Intel, he worked in the telecommunications software industry with positions in marketing, sales, and product management. He holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Boston College and an MBA from the Wharton School.

Wind River®, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel® Corporation, is a world leader in delivering software for the Internet of Things (IoT). The company’s comprehensive product portfolio, Wind River Helix™, addresses the emerging needs of the IoT, from the secure and managed intelligent devices at the edge, to the gateway, into the critical network infrastructure, and up into the cloud. Wind River technology is found in nearly 2 billion devices and is backed by world-class professional services, award-winning customer support, and the industry’s broadest partner ecosystem. Wind River delivers the technology and expertise that not only enables the deployment of safe, secure, and reliable intelligent systems, but also harnesses the intelligence in those systems to drive innovation and business transformation. To learn more, visit Wind River at www.windriver.com.

Hamid Montazeri is the Director of Software Engineering for the Stanley Black & Decker Digital Accelerator. He has 25 years of experience in delivering software systems in many fields including IoT, control systems, numerical analysis and simulation systems, semiconductor equipment, retail, banking and investment, electric energy, media, and digital asset management. At Stanley Black & Decker, he leads the Digital Accelerator scrum teams that are responsible for the design and development of digital and connected products leveraging cloud, IoT, and mobile development technologies.

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc., incorporated on June 4, 1901, is a global provider of hand tools, power tools and related accessories, mechanical access solutions, such as automatic doors and commercial locking systems, electronic security and monitoring systems, healthcare solutions, engineered fastening systems and products and services for various industrial applications. The Company's segments include Tools & Storage, Security and Industrial. Its Tools & Storage segment consists of the power tools and hand tools, accessories and storage (HTAS) businesses. Its Security segment consists of the convergent security solutions (CSS) and mechanical access solutions (MAS) businesses. Its Industrial segment consists of the engineered fastening and infrastructure businesses. It offers brands, such as Newell Tools and Craftsman, Irwin, Lenox and Craftsman.

Christopher Phillips is a Technical lead for the Stanley Black & Decker Digital Accelerator. Christopher specializes in distributed and cloud based systems and provides technical and implementation leadership in the design and development of digital and IoT enabled products using those technologies. At Stanley Black & Decker, Christopher has been focusing on technical ways to leverage IoT technologies in industrial settings.

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc., incorporated on June 4, 1901, is a global provider of hand tools, power tools and related accessories, mechanical access solutions, such as automatic doors and commercial locking systems, electronic security and monitoring systems, healthcare solutions, engineered fastening systems and products and services for various industrial applications. The Company's segments include Tools & Storage, Security and Industrial. Its Tools & Storage segment consists of the power tools and hand tools, accessories and storage (HTAS) businesses. Its Security segment consists of the convergent security solutions (CSS) and mechanical access solutions (MAS) businesses. Its Industrial segment consists of the engineered fastening and infrastructure businesses. It offers brands, such as Newell Tools and Craftsman, Irwin, Lenox and Craftsman.

I have ten years’ experience in defining, framing, developing and demonstrating informatics systems and the business model around them, including a PhD in the application of informatics solutions to support quality improvement in manufacturing. I have also formed and led teams to deliver solutions that generate business benefits on the back of ICT-based solutions, including operational simulation, embedded prognostics systems and self-adaptive machines. As part of these teams, we have delivered millions of pounds of savings to our customers. I am currently leading a new team in the area of Manufacturing Informatics that is offering unique capabilities in the UK to develop and mature technological solutions to the manufacturing sector.

The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) develops and proves innovative manufacturing processes and technologies in an agile, low risk environment, in partnership with industry, academia and other institutions. We focus on delivering bespoke manufacturing system solutions for our customers.
We operate some of the most advanced manufacturing equipment in the world, and employ a team of highly skilled engineers, many of whom are leading experts in their field. This creates a high quality environment for the development and demonstration of new processes and technologies on an industrial scale.
The MTC’s areas of expertise are directly relevant to both large and small companies, and are applicable across a wide range of industry sectors. The MTC’s members include global manufacturing companies from multiple sectors. Research partners include the University of Birmingham, University of Nottingham, Loughborough University and TWI Ltd.
The MTC is part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult which is supported by Innovate UK (formerly the Technology Strategy Board).

Roman Wambacher, Managing Partner, Digital Enabler

Dipl.-Ing. Roman Wambacher is Managing Partner at Digital Enabler GmbH and focuses on the development of IoT Hardware, embedded systems, connectivity as well as project- and supplier management.

He studied Engineering with focus on embedded systems at Graz University of Technology. Since 2011, Roman Wambacher founded several successful companies in the field of Digitalization and Industrie 4.0. Previously, he was working for more than 8 years at Liebherr in Bischofshofen, lastly as Head of Development Control System and Electronic Engineering. Besides his technical expertise, he is be passionately involved in several Hackathons in the field of IoT.
www.digital-enabler.com

Digital Enabler GmbH is a product-independent consulting and implementation company that sees itself as being a key enabler for manufacturing companies on their way to digital transformation. The main focus is on developing profitable IoT solutions such as smart products and smart services and to empower companies to fully use the potential of these solutions. Next to classical consulting, Digital Enabler controls and manages the entire project as general contractor if customers wish so: right from the start of the innovation process, business plan, the requirements definition stage, software engineering, execution, implementation and rollout, operations, support and maintenance.

Alexander Grohmann, Managing Partner, Digital Enabler

Alexander was heading the Competence Center Digital Products at Alfred Kärcher GmbH & Co KG after his time as assistant of the Vice Chairman of the Management Board. He published articles focusing on Return-on-Invests of IoT solutions and IoT development. Alexander studied Industrial Management and was fellow of the “Thomas Gessmann Foundation“. Currently, he is working on a book named “smart-service.world” which will be published in March 2017, he is member of the board at the Association of Engineers (VDI) Baden-Wuerttemberg, leading the VDI „B2B Sales“ Group and lectures “Digital Transformation & I4.0” in master programs at Aalen University.

Digital Enabler GmbH is a product-independent consulting and implementation company that sees itself as being a key enabler for manufacturing companies on their way to digital transformation. The main focus is on developing profitable IoT solutions such as smart products and smart services and to empower companies to fully use the potential of these solutions. Next to classical consulting, Digital Enabler controls and manages the entire project as general contractor if customers wish so: right from the start of the innovation process, business plan, the requirements definition stage, software engineering, execution, implementation and rollout, operations, support and maintenance.

Athanasios currently holds the position of “Computational & Data Science R&D Scientific Director”.
He is a graduate of National Technical University of Athens and holds a PhD from University of Liège. He joined Air Liquide in 1995. Within the Group, he finds several ways to express his passion for simulation and applied math in R&D and Operations. In particular, he is a pioneer in the development of multi-variable predictive control systems and innovative real-time optimization systems. He presents the first roadmap of big data for AL and sets up the first teams of data scientists, in 3 countries, within R&D’s “Computational & Data Science Global Lab”. He introduces artificial intelligence, through proofs of concept and alliances with innovative companies in the field. Athanasios is also Senior International Expert, within Air Liquide.

Air Liquide America, L.P. distributes packaged and specialty gases. The company was founded in 1964 and is based in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania. Air Liquide America, L.P. operates as a subsidiary of American Air Liquide Holdings, Inc.

Bruno Aidan, Chief Data Officer & Head of Data Factory, Air Liquide

Bruno Aïdan is currently Group Data Officer at Air Liquide.
Telecom Engineer, he also holds a PhD in Computer Systems from the Pierre et Marie Curie University in Paris.
Since 1994, he has a broad experience in the different areas of innovation in digital products and services, notably as a pioneer in Mobile Internet. In 2007, he took the lead in research on user applications at Bell Labs. He created and managed a multidisciplinary team of researchers in 5 countries in the fields of computer science, networks, design, user interfaces, prototyping and innovation processes. In 2013, he joined AXA as Director of Research and Development for the Data Innovation Lab, an advanced organization in the field of data sciences. In January 2017, he joins Air Liquide as Group Data Officer.

Air Liquide America, L.P. distributes packaged and specialty gases. The company was founded in 1964 and is based in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania. Air Liquide America, L.P. operates as a subsidiary of American Air Liquide Holdings, Inc.

Christopher Chong, President & CEO, SST Wireless

SST Wireless Inc. design, manufactures and distributes wireless industrial sensors to solve challenges faced by industrial customers. The company’s mission is to help increase safety, reduce operational downtime and conserve energy through the use of rugged wireless sensors that provide real time monitoring of equipment and vehicle condition such as temperature, pressure and vibration. SST’s sensors are designed for perform in harsh conditions found in mills, factories, mines, bridges and city streets. Wireless sensors provide flexibility in where and how they can be installed with minimal or no electrical or technical resources.

Thomas Stark, Innovation & Industry 4.0 Leader, Daimler

Mechanical Engineering and Business Administration at the TU Darmstadt (Germany) (1993-1999)

Professional Career

Trainee in R&D Mercedes Benz Cars (2000-2001)

Dimensional Management C- and E-Class, R&D (2001-2004)

Production Process Development, PP (Central Planning) (2004-2013)

Research platform for future production „Arena2036“, TecFabrik (2013-2016)

Manager Innovations & Trends – Smart Operations (2016-today)

Trendscouting

Pilotprojects

InnovationLab

Daimler AG, through its subsidiaries, engages in the development, production, and distribution of passenger cars, trucks, vans, and buses in Germany and internationally. It operates through Mercedes-Benz Cars, Daimler Trucks, Mercedes-Benz Vans, Daimler Buses, and Daimler Financial Services segments. The Mercedes-Benz Cars segment offers premium vehicles of the Mercedes-Benz brand, including the Mercedes-AMG and Mercedes-Maybach brands; and small cars under the smart brand, as well as the Mercedes me brand. The Daimler Trucks segment distributes its trucks under the Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner, Western Star, FUSO, BharatBenz, and Thomas Built Buses brands. The Mercedes-Benz Vans segment primarily sells vans under the Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner brands. The Daimler Buses segment sells completely built-up buses under the Mercedes-Benz and Setra brands, as well as produces and sells bus chassis. The Daimler Financial Services segment offers tailored financing and leasing packages for end-customers and dealers; and automotive insurance brokerage, banking, and fleet management services, as well as mobility services primarily under the moovel, mytaxi, and car2go brands. The company also sells vehicle related spare parts and accessories. Daimler AG was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany.

Dr. Lee is Managing Partner of Innovarium Ventures, a strategic, financial and technical advisory services firm based in Silicon Valley. He also served as Principal and co-founder of Space Angels Network, a professionally managed national network of accredited investors focused on seed- and early-stage aerospace-related ventures. Dr. Lee's European experience includes 10+ years of professional and academic assignments in Dublin (Member, National Innovation Taskforce, Office of the Prime Minister, Govt of Ireland - 2009/2010), Stuttgart (DaimlerChrysler Research Labs), Munich (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München), Vienna (Bundesamt für Eich- und Vermessungswesen), Geneva (International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations - IUF), Prague (Univerzita Karlova v Praze), Barcelona and London. Burton holds a PhD in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (minor) from Stanford University (2002), and an MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurship (Cornell, 2004). He speaks German and Spanish.

Stanford University is a private research university in Stanford, California, adjacent to Palo Alto and between San Jose and San Francisco. Its 8,180-acre (12.8 sq mi; 33.1 km2) campus is one of the largest in the United States. Stanford's undergraduate program is the most selective in America.Due to its academic strength, wealth, and proximity to Silicon Valley it is often cited as one of the world's most prestigious universities.

Member of the executive board of the VDI/VDE-Society Measurement and Automatic Control (GMA)

Krohne, Inc. develops, manufactures, and distributes flow and level measurement products. Its products include variable area flow meters, mass flow meters, ultrasonic wave technology, and magnetic flow meters to chemicals, food, pharmaceuticals, pulp and paper, and petroleum industries. The company also provides signal converters for electromagnetic flow metering, wastewater treatment metering tasks, water distribution networks, irrigation installation, water abstraction, and CIP cleaning stations. It offers its products through sales force and a network of selected representatives in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. The company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Peabody, Massachusetts. Krohne, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of KROHNE Messtechnik GmbH.

Prof. Dr. Dimitris Kiritsis is Faculty Member at the Institute of Mechanical Engineering of the School of Engineering of EPFL, Switzerland, where he is leading a research group on ICT for Sustainable Manufacturing. His research interests are Closed Loop Lifecycle Management, IoT, Semantic Technologies and Data Analytics for Engineering Applications. He served also as Guest Professor at the IMS Center of the University of Cincinnati, and Invited Professor at the University of Technology of Compiègne, the University of Technology of Belfort-Montbéliard and at ParisTech ENSAM Paris. Prof. Kiritsis is actively involved in EU research programs in the area of Factories of the Future and Enabling ICT for Sustainable Manufacturing. He has more than 200 publications. Since September 2013 Dimitris is Chair of IFIP WG5.7 – Advanced Production Management Systems and member of the Advisory Group of the European Council on Leadership on Enabling Industrial Technologies – AG LEIT-NMBP. He is also founding fellow member of the International Society for Engineering Asset Management (ISEAM) and of various international scientific communities in his area of interests including EFFRA.

EPFL is Europe’s most cosmopolitan technical university with students, professors and staff from over 120 nations. A dynamic environment, open to Switzerland and the world, EPFL is centered on its three missions: teaching, research and technology transfer. EPFL works together with an extensive network of partners including other universities and institutes of technology, developing and emerging countries, secondary schools and colleges, industry and economy, political circles and the general public, to bring about real impact for society.

Thiam Soon Gan, Manager, Industrial Analytics, Airbus

Thiam-Soon Gan is the manager responsible for setting up industrial analytics capabilities in Airbus Helicopters. He is also the architect of a new international helicopter program’s supply chain and currently works on future air mobility solutions.

Before joining Airbus, he worked at Daimler AG, Stuttgart, as a management associate and an engineer in product development and industrialization.
His areas of interest includes data analytics, simulation and multi-disciplinary optimization in the concurrent design of product and industrial architectures.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the National University of Singapore and a Master’s degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is currently working towards his doctorate (part-time) at the Technical University of Munich.

Airbus SE, formerly Airbus Group SE, is a company based in the Netherlands that is active in the aerospace and defense industry. The Company operates through three segments: Airbus Commercial Aircraft, Airbus Helicopters and Airbus Defence and Space. The Airbus Commercial Aircraft segment focuses on the development, manufacturing, marketing and sale of commercial jet aircraft and aircraft components, as well as on aircraft conversion and related services. The Airbus Helicopters segment specializes in the development, manufacturing, marketing and sale of civil and military helicopters, as well as on the provision of helicopter related services. The Airbus Defence and Space segment produces military combat aircraft and training aircraft, provides defense electronics and global security market solutions, and manufacturers and markets missiles.

Bernhard Stobitzer, Design Thinking Lead, Coach and Facilitator, SAP

Pedro Tavares, Innovation Lead, FLUOR

Pedro Tavares is a project engineer at Fluor, a global engineering and construction company responsible for leading the development of data-driven execution strategies fit for the EPFC industry.

Pedro’s passion is on challenging the current status quo of human/ technology interface throughout different industry and project frameworks. During his four years in industry, Pedro has focused on integrating data-driven solutions in project execution strategies with a focus in streamlining data between all project stakeholders.

Leveraging from IoT, analytics, automation and agile communication strategies to facilitate more seamless and efficient work processes in global execution teams, Pedro is tasked with bringing data driven execution of engineering, supply chain and construction to a next generation benchmark.

Fluor designs and builds many of the world’s largest and most challenging capital projects.

Renaud Di Francesco, Director Europe Technology Standards, SONY

Dr Renaud Di Francesco is the Director of the Europe Technology Standards Office of Sony, supporting the Sony Group in its global standards development needs, ranging from content aspects to networks and energy consumption, including the substantial objective of sustainability for the Planet and its People.
He has held positions in business development and technology management with Sony and France Telecom. Before joining the private sector, he has been a national and European civil servant employed by the Ministry of PTT and the European Commission and is aware of the challenges of policy efficiency and technology neutrality.
His current interests include the transformation of industry sectors such as the Automotive with a roadmap to autonomy, Industry of the Future, as well as IoT.

thyssenkrupp AG operates in the areas of mechanical, plant, and materials technologies in Germany and internationally. The company’s Components Technology segment provides various components for automotive, construction, and engineering sectors, as well as for wind turbines. This segment’s products include assembled camshafts, powertrain crankshafts, steering and damping systems, net-machined crankshafts, engine components, steering columns and shafts, steering gears, slewing bearings, crawlers, crawler components, and springs and stabilizers, as well as cylinder head modules with integrated camshafts. Its Elevator Technology segment is involved in the construction, modernization, and servicing of elevators, escalators, moving walks, and stairs and platform lifts, as well as passenger boarding bridges. The company’s Industrial Solutions segment offers engineering and construction services, as well as ship building services. This segment provides engineering services for the design and construction of chemical plants, refineries, and other industrial facilities; equipment for the cement and minerals industries; and machinery and systems for the mining, processing, handling, and transportation of raw materials and minerals, as well as car body and final assembly equipment for automotive manufacturers and suppliers. Its Materials Services segment distributes materials, including metals, alloys, minerals, industrial gases, and coke; and provides technical and infrastructure services in railway equipment, civil engineering, port construction, plant, and steel mill services. The company’s Steel Europe segment offers flat carbon steel for use in the automotive, construction, appliance, energy, and packaging sectors. Its Steel Americas segment engages in the production, processing, and marketing of steel products. thyssenkrupp AG was founded in 1811 and is headquartered in Essen, Germany.

Heiko Kullack, HPE Pointnext Manager, Business Development, HPE

Heiko Kullack is responsible for Business Development in the German consulting organization of HPE Pointnext. He has gathered deep experience in the subject areas of workplace, digitalization and IoT through his consulting and advisory engagements. In the past, Mr. Kullack has led an advisory team in HPE's EMEA organization with a focus on consulting and business development activities within the early sales stages of cloud, workplace and digitization initiatives within large organizations across EMEA. Mr. Kullack has been with HPE since 1998.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is an industry-leading technology company that enables customers to go further, faster. With the industry’s most comprehensive portfolio, spanning the cloud to the data center to workplace applications, our technology and services help customers around the world make IT more efficient, more productive and more secure.

Michael Dolbec, Managing Director, Software Ventures, GE Ventures

Michael Dolbec leads investments for GE software focused on the Industrial Internet, big data, M2M and cyber security. Mike’s current investments include: Predixion, Maana, Ayasdi, and Mocana. Mike joined the GE team from LG Electronics, where he led venture capital and open innovation activities. Prior to that, Mike led the venture capital groups at Orange, 3Com, and IBM. Earlier, he co-founded an award-winning mobile internet startup which was sold to Earthlink. Mike began his investment career at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Greylock. His previous investments include: Juniper, Extreme, Epigram (acquired by Broadcom), Macromind (later Macromedia, acquired by Adobe), Trilogy, and Netezza. He has held operating positions in research, software engineering, sales, marketing, business development and M&A. Mike began his career at Xerox Palo Alto Research Laboratory. Mike holds an MBA from Wharton, as well as a Master’s Degree in Artificial Intelligence and a Bachelor’s in Biology from Stanford. He lives in Palo Alto, has two grown children, and is an avid road cyclist.

Domonkos Gaspar, Head of Global Manufacturing Digitization, Autoneum

Domonkos Gaspar is an experienced leader for Business Transformation currently focusing on Digitalisation and Industry 4.0 / IIoT in the Automotive Industry. With roots in Economic Engineering and IT management, he has more than 15 years experience in defining and reliably delivering corporate/strategic initiatives in technologically demanding industries. Domonkos operates across geographies and cultures globally (Europe, Americas, Asia Pacific) on all organisational levels from CXX to shop floor.

Domonkos studied business administration and economic engineering at the Universities of Gödöllö (Hungary) and Passau (Germany),. Upon graduation as MSc, he first worked at Accenture as Analyst for business processes and ERP. Between 2003 and 2013 he was working for a number of advisory companies, such as Würth Phoenix, the internal advisory arm of the Würth Group; London Logic Partners, Schreder Group, International Business Systems (IBS) and Lean Projects raising through the ranks from consultant to project manager, Head of Buiness Unit and Program Director. His working experience gained him insights into multiple industries such as healthcare/pharma, wholesale, aviation maintenance, automotive. Over the years his specialist area became the setting up and managing business transformation with an integrated view on processes, data and technology for most efficient and sustainable results.

Domonkos Gaspar is working for Autoneum from the beginning of 2014 where he first headed the IT Program Management Office with responsibility for developing and implementing Autoneum's global IT governance model and skills management, among others. He was also responsible for the implementation of standardised business processes and SAP ERP in the North American organisation. Ad-interim, for 11 months in 2015 and 2016 Domonkos Gaspar was leading the Asian IT organisation, transformed and re-focused the IT operations and launched a number of strategic initiatives in the region. At the end of 2016, as Autoneum decided to create a dedicated unit for the identification and to utilisation of the benefits provided by Digitization and Industry 4.0, Domonkos Gaspar was appointed to head the unit.

Domonkos Gaspar is certified in a number of domains: CSCP (APICS); PRINCE2, MSP; CSM; ITIL v3 and he is engaged in University research, lecturing and publication.

Autoneum is the globally leading automobile supplier in acoustic and thermal management for vehicles. Autoneum develops and produces multifunctional and lightweight components and systems for noise and heat protection and thereby enhances vehicle comfort.

Dr. Georg Rehm, Senior Researcher, DFKI; Head of the German / Austrian Office of W3C, W3C

Georg Rehm works as a Senior Researcher in the Language Technology Lab at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), in Berlin. He is also the Manager of the German/Austrian Office of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), hosted at DFKI in Berlin. In that capacity, Georg is involved in several bridge building activities between W3C work on the Web of Things on one hand and Industrie 4.0-related activities in Germany on the other.

Georg Rehm holds an M.A. in Computational Linguistics and Artificial Intelligence, Linguistics and Computer Science from the University of Osnabrück. After completing his PhD in Computational Linguistics at the University of Gießen, he worked at the University of Tübingen, responsible for projects on the sustainability of language resources and language technologies. After leading the language technology development at an award-winning internet startup in Berlin, he joined DFKI in early 2010.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international consortium where Member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop Web standards. W3C primarily pursues its mission through the creation of Web standards and guidelines designed to ensure long-term growth for the Web. The Open Web Platform is a current major focus. Over 390 organizations are Members of the Consortium. W3C is jointly run by the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (MIT CSAIL) in the USA, the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics (ERCIM) headquartered in France, Keio University in Japan, and Beihang University in China, and has additional Offices worldwide.

The German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) was founded in 1988 and has research facilities in Kaiserslautern, Saarbrücken, Bremen and a project office in Berlin. In the field of innovative commercial software technology using Artificial Intelligence, DFKI is the leading research center in Germany.
Based on application oriented basic research DFKI develops product functions, prototypes and patentable solutions in the field of information and communication technology. Research and development projects are conducted in fifteen research departments and research groups, eight competence centers and six living labs. Funding is received from government agencies like the European Union, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi), the German Federal States and the German Research Foundation (DFG) as well as from cooperation with industrial partners. Twice a year, a committee of internationally renowned experts (Scientific Advisory Board) audits the progress and results of publically funded projects. In addition, BMBF evaluates DFKI every five years. The most recent assessment was again very successfully concluded in 2010.
Apart from the state governments of Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Bremen, numerous renowned German and international high-tech companies are represented on the DFKI supervisory board. The DFKI model of a non-profit public-private partnership (ppp) is nationally and internationally considered a blueprint for corporate structure in the field of top-level research.
DFKI is actively involved in numerous organizations representing and continuously advancing Germany as an excellent location for cutting-edge research and technology. Far beyond the country’s borders DFKI enjoys an excellent reputation for its academic training of young scientists. At present, 480 highly qualified researchers and 350 graduate students from more than 60 countries are contributing to 180 DFKI research projects. DFKI serves as a stepping stone to leading positions in industry and successful careers as founders of spin-off companies. Over the years, more than 60 staff members have been appointed professors at universities in Germany and abroad.

Aljoscha Burchardt, Senior Researcher, DFKI

Aljoscha Burchardt is lab manager at the Language Technology Lab of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI GmbH). He is an expert in Artificial Intelligence and Language Technology. His interests include the inclusion of language professionals in the R&D workflow. Burchardt is co-developer of the MQM framework for measuring (machine) translation quality. He has a background in semantic Language Technology. After his PhD in Computational Linguistics at Saarland University he coordinated the Center of Research Excellence "E-Learning 2.0" at Technische Universität Darmstadt.

The German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) was founded in 1988 and has research facilities in Kaiserslautern, Saarbrücken, Bremen and a project office in Berlin. In the field of innovative commercial software technology using Artificial Intelligence, DFKI is the leading research center in Germany.
Based on application oriented basic research DFKI develops product functions, prototypes and patentable solutions in the field of information and communication technology. Research and development projects are conducted in fifteen research departments and research groups, eight competence centers and six living labs. Funding is received from government agencies like the European Union, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi), the German Federal States and the German Research Foundation (DFG) as well as from cooperation with industrial partners. Twice a year, a committee of internationally renowned experts (Scientific Advisory Board) audits the progress and results of publically funded projects. In addition, BMBF evaluates DFKI every five years. The most recent assessment was again very successfully concluded in 2010.
Apart from the state governments of Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Bremen, numerous renowned German and international high-tech companies are represented on the DFKI supervisory board. The DFKI model of a non-profit public-private partnership (ppp) is nationally and internationally considered a blueprint for corporate structure in the field of top-level research.
DFKI is actively involved in numerous organizations representing and continuously advancing Germany as an excellent location for cutting-edge research and technology. Far beyond the country’s borders DFKI enjoys an excellent reputation for its academic training of young scientists. At present, 480 highly qualified researchers and 350 graduate students from more than 60 countries are contributing to 180 DFKI research projects. DFKI serves as a stepping stone to leading positions in industry and successful careers as founders of spin-off companies. Over the years, more than 60 staff members have been appointed professors at universities in Germany and abroad.

For more information go to www.dfki.de

Robin Tech, Managing Director & Co-Founder, AtomLeap

Robin has backgrounds in economics, business, sociology — and he currently gives his PhD thesis on how to finance hardware startups the finishing touches. He’s driven by making effective collaboration of scientists, entrepreneurs, and designers happen to create products that matter.

Robin is co-founder & MD of AtomLeap and is noted for his slow-cooking skills and finding just the right granularity of coffee to put in his espresso maker.

Sebastian Klenk, Founder & CEO, 5Analytics

Sebastian Klenk is the Founder and CEO of 5Analytics. He received his PhD in Computer Science in the area of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence in 2012. After working as a product manager in a database management software company and building up their US business from the Silicon Valley he worked for a BI-company as the team leader in product management before starting 5Analytics in 2015.

Karina Buschsieweke, Managing Director, LanaLabs

Karina is Co-Founder and Managing Director of the Berlin-based software startup Lana Labs.
After completing her Bachelor degree in Anthropolgy and Economics, Karina graduated from the Technical University Berlin with a Master of Science in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship.
She started her professional carreer as a technology analyst in the automotive industry, where she was responsible for technological foresight projects. In 2015 she met her future business partners Dr. Rami-Habib Eid-Sabagh and Dr. Thomas Baier who just finished their PhDs at the Hasso Plattner institute in Potsdam with novel research results for process data analysis. Shortly afterwards the company Lana Labs was established, which is in the market today with the innovative software solution LANA Process Mining, that enables to quickly identify saving potential and business risks in processes.

Stefan Haberkorn, Managing Director Virtual Reality, Visualimpression

VISUALIMPRESSION is a well-known German high tech company, located in Magdeburg near Berlin. Our company has been involved in the field of 3d visualization with various technologies and applications for more than 12 years. A true pioneer and specialist in that business!

Stefan Haberkorn, the owner of the company, develops interactive VR (virtual reality) simulations in a variety of industries with his team. The aim is always set high to meet customer objectives, mainly training specific content holistically and bringing it alive; or simply jumping into another world!

Virtual media enables the viewer to immerse themselves directly into the middle of a great story or into a customized simulation. They become active and enjoying themselves.
Therefore, a direct connection to the virtual event is happening that is very similar to the real world experience. No TV or computer screen visualization has ever been able to achieve that great effect. Complex industrial contexts can be captured quickly and difficult activities can be trained or learnt playfully in this way.
Live concerts, exhibitions, historical time journeys and so many other events can be experienced from all persons worldwide 24/7 without any barriers by streaming 360-degree content via the internet.

A new important milestone in history for sensations, true emotions and freedom is set!

Explore our webpage, scroll through our pages and get into contact with us.
Think big and change the world.

Hannes Gruschinski, Business Development Manager, Ruhrbotics

Hannes Gruschinski studied Mechatronics engineering at both Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, and at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana, in the United States. Subsequently, for several years, he was engaged in various research projects, wherein he addressed control and filter theory, industrial robotics, measurement and sensor technology, signal processing, and process monitoring of CNC tool making machines. For more than two years, he was a project manager with FANUC where he led a small team through an industrial robotics and body in white project with a premium car manufacturer. Quite recently, Mr. Gruschinski joined Ruhrbotics GmbH as a business development manager where he will construct a new business division on Industry 4.0, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning. He holds a Nanodegree "Deep Learning Foundation" from Udacity and is currently taking their Nanodegree on "Artificial Intelligence".

Chen Linchevski, CEO, Precognize

Chen has vast experience in management, sales and business development of industrial software. Chen is a true believer in the ability of the industrial sector to transform itself and increase efficiency more than ever by leveraging Big Data.

Previously, Chen was the CEO of Opcat, served in executive positions in Ayeca and worked with key technology companies such as GE, Israel Electricity Company, Elbit, and IAI, specializing in analysis and design of complex business analysis. Chen holds an LLB from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Peter Kišša, CTO, Werksrevolution

Peter Kišša is CTO of the affiliated companies WERKSREVOLUTION and M2M Solutions (SK). He is expert in cloud architecture and IoT platforms. Peter is leading WERKSREVOLUTIONs digital strategy and ensuring their solutions are being built on a secure and robust, but agile industrial IoT platform. Before joining WERKSREVOLUTION, Peter was working as a lead-engineer in European research projects focusing on cloud computing and its adoption within the EU. He was responsible for centric activities ranging from public presentations and publishing, strategy consulting, SW architecture design, integration and development. After finishing his studies in Management Science & Informatics at the University of Zilina (SK), Peter was working as a SW engineer in Germany and Slovakia, as well as for IBM in Canada and the USA.

WERKSREVOLUTION provokes the digital transformation of the industrial sector. We develop innovative solutions, which not only increase the productivity and efficiency of our customers in the area of logistics and production, but also enable new processes and business models. Therefore, we use the possibilities given by latest technologies, combined with the disruptive principles of the digital transformation. Be part of the revolution!

Ben Howes, Founder & CEO, zoetrope labs

I have always been entrepreneurial; I launched my first tech start-up while I was completing my Masters in Computer Science and Electronics at Bristol University.
I’m motivated by solving problems and I am passionate about technology; I find the potential that the Internet of Things holds for growing businesses really exciting, so I founded Zoetrope. I love working with our clients, delivering a remarkable solution to the new challenges that each one poses.

Rafael Fietzek, CEO, COMPREDICT

Rafael Fietzek studied Industrial Engineering in Erlangen and finished his PhD at the TU Darmstadt (Institute for Mechatronic Systems (IMS)). His doctorate supervisor was Prof. Dr.-Ing. Stephan Rinderknecht, who is also a co-founder of the COMPREDICT GmbH.

COMPREDICT was founded in 2016 in Darmstadt and offers a purely software-based solution to predict failures of automotive components. COMPREDICT’s load & lifetime monitoring acquires the dynamic components loads by sensor fusion and accumulates the induced partial damages in real-time. The application-oriented, easily adaptable and reliable lifetime monitoring system does not require any additional hardware and is based on already available vehicle sensors and signals running on the vehicle bus, such as a Controller Area Network (CAN). Furthermore, the amount of generated data is kept low, and the limited computing power and storage capacity of standard Electronic Control Units (ECU) are considered, so that the system can be implemented in all vehicles without any special expense. By going beyond the vehicle level and considering the complete vehicle fleet, the possibility of a continuous optimization procedure on basis of the load & lifetime monitoring system emerges for a better control of user profile discrepancies customer-optimized lightweight design, cost-efficiency and improved resource management. For this solution we were rewarded in 2016 by MAGNA with the Johann Puch Award. In 2017 we were the only Startup to win a main prize and the special prize at the “Gründerwettbewerb” organized by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

Candy Behunin, Head of International Relations, PIABO

Candy Behunin is Head of International Relations at PIABO PR, Europe's agency for leading digital and technology brands.

Her background started with a bachelor's in design / digital media marketing, but after graduating from Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, with a Masters Degree from WHU business school in Germany, she decided to go into the tech industry.

Since 2013 she has taken on positions as: Head of Marketing at HitFox Group (company builder), Head of Growth at Adjust (adtech), VP of Marketing at Unu Motors (e-scooter), PR advisor to Splash VR, and early stage deal flow Analyst for Asgard Capital focusing on artificial intelligence and hardware startups. She has grown with the Berlin scene from it's social mobile trends, to e-commerce, onto bigger visions like cryptocurrency and the latest discussions in AI and VR innovations.

PIABO is an owner-operated communications agency based in Berlin, Germany. Our team combines profound industry knowledge with a pragmatic approach. With our creative PR, we understand the influence and importance of both online and traditional media. Through these outlets, we gain extensive media exposure to build curiosity around your product and message: Whether journalists or your target audience, we get people talking. Deep understanding and reinforcement of our client’s strategy provides us with the tools needed for your business growth and development. Our shared wealth of experience consists of sound knowledge within the areas of PR, Online Marketing, Branding, Design, IT, Editorial Services, Media Management, Communications and Social Sciences.

Lothar Baum, Director and Global Head of AI Enablement, Bosch Center for Artificial Intelligence, Robert Bosch

Lothar Baum joined Corporate Research of Robert Bosch GmbH in 2006, and lately led a Bosch-wide strategic project on Data Mining. Since 2017, he’s member of the newly established Bosch Center for Artificial Intelligence, leading the global AI Enablement activities within Bosch.

Robert Bosch GmbH, together with its subsidiaries, provides technology and services worldwide. It operates through Mobility Solutions, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy and Building Technology segments. The Mobility Solutions segment offers gasoline systems, diesel systems, chassis systems control products, electrical drives, starter motors and generators, car multimedia products, automotive electronics, and automotive aftermarket and steering products. The Industrial Technology segment provides drive, control, and actuator solutions for the factory automation, plant construction and engineering, mobile machinery, and commercial vehicles. This segment also offers process and packaging solutions for the pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, and confectionery industries, as well as for the beverages industry. The Consumer Goods segment produces and distributes power tools, such as tools for the trade, industry, and DIY; and accessories and garden tools, as well as industrial tools and measuring equipment. It also offers household appliances for cooking, washing-up, washing, drying, cooling, freezing, floor care, etc. The Energy and Building Technology segment manufactures heaters, heat pumps, solar thermal systems, solid-fuel boilers, cogeneration plants, and industrial boilers. It also offers security systems comprising video-surveillance, intrusion-detection, fire-detection, and voice alarm systems; and access-control, and building management systems, as well as professional audio and conference systems. The company has a strategic partnership with Software AG for the Internet of Things Cloud. The company was formerly known as Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering and changed its name to Robert Bosch GmbH in 1937. Robert Bosch GmbH was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Robert Bosch GmbH is a subsidiary of Robert Bosch Stiftung Gmbh.

Christoph Papenfuss, Regional Manager, OSIsoft DACH

Christoph joined OSIsoft in 2012 as a Global Account Manager before assuming his current role in early 2015. Prior to OSIsoft Christoph worked for IBM Cognos for nearly ten years as both the Client Services Director for the West Coast of the U.S.A. and then the Business Unit Executive managing the IBM Cognos Innovation Center for Europe. Prior to Cognos, Christoph worked as a Consulting Manager at Bearingpoint (formerly KPMG Consulting) where he advised global Fortune 500 clients in the areas of Performance Management.

OSIsoft, LLC provides an open enterprise infrastructure to connect sensor-based data, operations, and people to enable real-time and actionable insights. It offers PI System, a product that includes various modules to analyze, collect, deliver, find, historize, and visualize enterprise data used to deliver process, quality, energy, regulatory compliance, safety, security, and asset health improvements across their operations. The company’s product allows companies engaged in various activities, such as exploration, extraction, production, generation, process and discrete manufacturing, distribution, and service aspects to leverage streaming data to optimize their businesses. It also provides PI Integrator, a software integration product for business analytics that enables utilization of sensor-based data captured within the PI System with existing advanced analytics and visualization tools. The company offers its solutions to oil and gas, chemical and petrochemical, pulp and paper, power and utility, and federal government industries; material, mine, metal, and metallurgy markets; pharmaceutical, food, and life science sectors; and critical facilities, data centers, and information technology markets. It serves customers worldwide. OSIsoft, LLC has strategic alliances with Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Ltd., Microsoft, SAP, Cisco, and Esri. OSIsoft, LLC was formerly known as OSI Systems, Inc. and changed its name to OSIsoft, LLC in 1996. The company was founded in 1980 and is based in San Leandro, California with additional offices in the United States and internationally.

Tanja Rueckert, President IoT and Digital Supply Chain, SAP

Dr. Tanja Rueckert leads the business unit IoT & Digital Supply Chain. She has end-to-end responsibility for all SAP solutions and Go to Market in the areas of manufacturing, supply chain management, connected logistics, asset management and the Internet of Things (IoT) & Industry 4.0.

Supporting customers to accelerate the digital transformation of their business models, processes and assets is at the core of Tanja’s organizational charter. Responsible for driving a compelling portfolio of innovative solutions (SAP Leonardo) that are aimed at turning connected things into outcomes and creating new business value. She manages a global team with main hubs in US, China, India and Germany. Based in Germany having lived for some time in Silicon Valley, she reports to Bernd Leukert, SAP Executive Board, Head of Products and Innovation.

Dr. Tanja Rueckert joined SAP in 1997, and has worked on many different strategic customer projects, held leadership roles in Industries, quality and program management and was the COO of HR and Products & Innovation board areas.

Dr. Tanja Rueckert also has several roles in Business Affiliations:

Vice Chair @IIConsortium. (Industrial Internet Consortium)

Board Member Muenchner Kreis

Council Member - Karlsruhe University

She holds a doctorate in chemistry from the studies at University of Wuerzburg, Swansea & Regensburg. Dr. Tanja Rueckert splits her time between Silicon Valley and SAP’s headquarters in Walldorf, Germany, she speaks English, Spanish and German, and is a mother of two children.

As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 291,000 customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably.

Rasmus Thomsen, Partner & Innovation Strategist, IS IT A BIRD

Rasmus is partner and innovation strategist in the strategic innovation agency IS IT A BIRD based in Copenhagen.

Rasmus’ passion and field of expertise is user centric innovation and the building of innovation capacity in organizations. Rasmus has been involved in hundreds of innovation processes over the last decade, and has an informal and creative approach to consulting and to leading innovation.

Rasmus believe that the solutions of the future can’t always build on the experiences of the past and therefore we must be open up to the new. It takes courage and willpower if we do not only want to reproduce the existing but want to be creators of solutions for the needs of the future.

Rasmus hold a MSc in digital design and communication from the IT University in Copenhagen supplemented with studies in Design Thinking from Stanford University.

Our Approach

At IS IT A BIRD we identify patterns in needs, behaviour and aspirations among people. User insights are our starting point and serve as our guideline in the development and innovation of organisations, products and services. We work from an exploratory and inquisitive point of view and always translate our findings into concrete concepts and solutions. Our interdisciplinary approach enables us to achieve agile results for a world in constant change.

Our Convictions

We believe that the solutions of the future can’t always build on past experience, and so we must be open to new thinking. It takes courage and willpower to break free from recreating what already exists and, instead, create the solutions of the future.

Our Name

IS IT A BIRD is a literary reference to Superman – a man with special powers which come in handy when the challenges of society call for a radically new solution. It is also the essence of our approach to innovation, constantly wondering, sensing and with an answer that always differs from the immediately obvious.

Our History

IS IT A BIRD was founded the summer of 2011 by Line Groes based on a dream of creating positive, long-lasting changes for businesses and organisations. Our vision is simple: to become the leading innovation agency in Denmark, where highly intelligent and creative people thrive and leave their mark on the world.

Our Team

Our areas of expertise span a wide range of disciplines, making it possible to develop solutions across fields and industries. Diversity in skills, personality and views is the cornerstone of our budding innovation environment. We are driven by our employees – a gathering of innovation geeks, original thinkers and passionate practitioners.

Eric Schaeffer, Senior Managing Director, Accenture

Eric Schaeffer is a senior managing director at Accenture. He is leading their Digital Industry X.0 program with the objective of supporting industrial companies in harnessing digital opportunities. Schaeffer also leads one of Accenture’s global business services – Accenture Product Lifecycle Services – which provides end-to-end services to unlock value and efficiencies from product data across the entire value chain. Schaeffer’s primary industry background is automotive and industrial equipment manufacturers, his secondary industry focus is freight and logistics and transportation and travel. His project track record covers business transformation programs encompassing complex business and technology changes and he has led such programs for large and multinational companies.

Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions – underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network – Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With approximately 384,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

Mario Buisán, Director General of Industry and SMEs, Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (Spain)

Mr. Mario Buisán is currently Director General of Industry and SMEs and has previously been Head of Cabinet of the Secretary General of Industry and SMEs

Before, from 2009 to 2014, he was the Trade Commissioner of the Embassy of Spain in Miami, Florida. Since 2004 he was Director General of Information and Investments at the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade (ICEX). Prior to this he was Deputy Director General of International Affairs at Banco de España. He also worked at the MIGA Agency of World Bank. He was a former Trade Commissioner of Spain in Düsseldorf, Germany and has occupied several positions in the Ministry of Economics and Finance.

At the moment he is President of CERSA (Compañía Española de Reafianzamiento) and President of Enisa (Empresa Nacional de Innovación)) and he has been before Member of the Board of IDAE, Pymar, Cofides (Compañía Española de Financiación del Desarrollo, S. A.) and Expansión Exterior.

He holds a Master´s degree in Economic and Business Sciences, and a Law Degree. Besides, he took a postgrade course on public management at IESE and he is a member of the Commercial and Economic Technical Personnel Organization of the Spanish Government, a body of high-level officials.

The Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness is the Department of the General Administration of the State in charge of the proposal and execution of the Government's economic policy and reforms to improve competitiveness, industrial development and small and medium Company, scientific research, technological development and innovation in all sectors, commercial policy and support to the company, as well as the other powers and powers conferred by the legal system. This Ministry is structured in the following higher bodies:

The Ministry of Economy and Business Support

The Ministry of Commerce

The Secretary of State for Research, Development and Innovation

Roberto Napione, Head of machine centre of excellence, SKF

My name is Roberto Napione, I’m working in SKF since 1992 . I’m mechanical engineer ; I studied at Politecnico of Turin quite an important University used to form engineer for the most important companies in Italy.
All my career has been in Manufacturing; I started as quality manager , then as manufacturing manager. In 2003 I became factory manager of one of the biggest MU in SKF producing Hub bearing . 800 people and 250 M€ turnover.
After this experience I choose to work in the manufacturing development area , at the beginning at business Unit level , then at Division level; I manage manufacturing process , investment , footprint and EHS.

But new challenges are coming : so we decided from 2016 to have more focus on machines . I built the Machine Center of Excellence , at Group level, to focalize standardization and the machine technology step up needed entering in the 4 th industrial revolution.
We have now MCE’s in Sweden , Italy, France, Germany and China and others will come
A mix of traditional knowledge in core processes and new projects in new area as robotics is what we are doing
Personally my passions are: skiing, playing tennis, reading and my son ! I m married since 1992.

Roland Hechwartner, Vice Chairman of the Technical Plenary, oneM2M

Roland Hechwartner, Deutsche Telekom, Vice Chairman oneM2M Technical Plenary
Roland Hechwartner works at Deutsche Telekom Technology Innovation, in the Standardization and IPR Management department where he is responsible for standardization activities in the service domain. He was elected for the oneM2M Technical Plenary Vice Chairman position in 2014 and re-elected 2016 for another two-year term.
Roland joined the department of systems engineering of max.mobil. (later T-Mobile Austria) in 1999 as project manager for mobile data solutions. Since 2005 he has been working as delegate for Deutsche Telekom in several standardization organizations and served as member of the board of directors of the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA).

John Carrier, Senior Lecturer, MIT Sloan School of Management

Dr. John F. Carrier is a Senior Lecturer in the System Dynamics Group at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He has spent over 25 years diagnosing and eliminating hidden factories in the oil & gas, petrochemical, discrete manufacturing, and research laboratory facilities, saving these organizations hundreds of millions of dollars while reducing operating risk. He also works with companies to successfully integrate the technology of the Industrial Internet of Things into their existing organization, with a distinct focus on developing front line leaders in the culture of improvement.

He currently runs a popular MIT Executive Education course on Implementing IIoT through Continuous Improvement Leadership (http://tiny.cc/2jhcjy). He also co-teaches an MBA course with Professor John DC Little (Little’s Law).

Dr. Carrier holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan, an ScD in Control Systems from MIT, and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, often cited as one of the world's most prestigious universities.
Founded in 1861 in response to the increasing industrialization of the United States, MIT adopted a European polytechnic university model and stressed laboratory instruction in applied science and engineering. Researchers worked on computers, radar, and inertial guidance during World War II and the Cold War. Post-war defense research contributed to the rapid expansion of the faculty and campus under James Killian. The current 168-acre (68.0 ha) campus opened in 1916 and extends over 1 mile (1.6 km) along the northern bank of the Charles River basin.
The Institute is traditionally known for its research and education in the physical sciences and engineering, and more recently in biology, economics, linguistics, and management as well. MIT is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU) and founder of the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS Institute). For several years, MIT's School of Engineering has been ranked first in various international and national university rankings, and the Institute is also often ranked among the world's top universities overall. The "Engineers" compete in 31 sports, most teams of which compete in the NCAA Division III's New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference; the Division I rowing programs compete as part of the EARC and EAWRC.
As of 2015, 85 Nobel laureates, 52 National Medal of Science recipients, 65 Marshall Scholars, 45 Rhodes Scholars, 38 MacArthur Fellows, 34 astronauts, 19 Turing award winners, 16 Chief Scientists of the U.S. Air Force, and 6 Fields Medalists have been affiliated with MIT. The school has a strong entrepreneurial culture, and the aggregated revenues of companies founded by MIT alumni would rank as the eleventh-largest economy in the world.

Candy Behunin, Head of International Relations, PIABO

Candy Behunin is Head of International Relations at PIABO PR, Europe's agency for leading digital and technology brands.

Her background started with a bachelor's in design / digital media marketing, but after graduating from Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, with a Masters Degree from WHU business school in Germany, she decided to go into the tech industry.

Since 2013 she has taken on positions as: Head of Marketing at HitFox Group (company builder), Head of Growth at Adjust (adtech), VP of Marketing at Unu Motors (e-scooter), PR advisor to Splash VR, and early stage deal flow Analyst for Asgard Capital focusing on artificial intelligence and hardware startups. She has grown with the Berlin scene from it's social mobile trends, to e-commerce, onto bigger visions like cryptocurrency and the latest discussions in AI and VR innovations.

PIABO is an owner-operated communications agency based in Berlin, Germany. Our team combines profound industry knowledge with a pragmatic approach. With our creative PR, we understand the influence and importance of both online and traditional media. Through these outlets, we gain extensive media exposure to build curiosity around your product and message: Whether journalists or your target audience, we get people talking. Deep understanding and reinforcement of our client’s strategy provides us with the tools needed for your business growth and development. Our shared wealth of experience consists of sound knowledge within the areas of PR, Online Marketing, Branding, Design, IT, Editorial Services, Media Management, Communications and Social Sciences.